Adam Brown @AdamMNVi
Another Champions League final banked for Jurgen Klopp sets up an important Premier League clash with Antonio Conte’s Spurs, that will kick off at 19.45 which is fairly strange for a Saturday evening game.
Despite Spurs never quite revealing how they’re going to play until the game kicks off, Liverpool have to expect them at their best given that they defeated Manchester City earlier in the season. It’s obvious that Conte will be looking to counter-attack in this one, which means the Reds have to make the most of possession.
Given this one is at Anfield, Liverpool should be able to use the atmosphere to make a good start. Villarreal’s warning shot they fired in the first half in midweek shows the extra need for focus. The Reds can’t switch off if we’re going to catch Pep Guardiola’s side.
Here’s how we should line up:
Ibrahima Konate maintains his place to deal with the pace of Spurs’ counter-attack. No changes from Tuesday – though I’d have liked to have seen Klopp rest the likes of Robertson in Spain.
Fabinho and Thiago could back into the side with Jordan Henderson the only change. A crazy half for Naby Keita that saw him make a number of errors means it’s probably best to go with the tried an trusted method in this one – especially with the threat that Spurs have.
Luis Diaz, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah complete the line up.
While this one is a tricky game, more confidence can be garnered from the fact that Anfield will be in good voice on Saturday evening. With Virgil van Dijk able to keep Harry Kane quiet, it’s a matter of not presenting too many opportunities to Son on the counter-attack. He has had too many chances against us in previous games and it’s not a risk we can afford to take this time around.
Score prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur
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