Saturday 15th September 1230hrs Tottenham v Liverpool Football – England – Premier League The domestic action has taken a backseat for the past couple of weeks as the international game has taken centre stage. The Premier League returns on Saturday and the first game is an absolute belter. Two of last season’s top four meet at the national stadium and the current league leaders face their most difficult match of the campaign thus far with their hosts looking to respond following a disappointing defeat last time out. Tottenham host Liverpool at Wembley on Saturday lunchtime – read on for a match preview and a selected best betting tip.
Spurs were going along quite nicely at the start of the season with three wins from as many matches to kick off the new campaign. They rode their luck somewhat in the opening half hour away to Manchester United but a devastating second half ensured they left with a 3-0 win. Their performances against the other top teams, especially away from home, have come in for some criticism over the last couple of seasons so it looked like they had laid down a marker for the rest of the league. Unfortunately for Spurs it wasn’t long before they were brought back down to earth when losing 2-1 away to Watford in their next league game. Despite taking the lead at Vicarage Road, Mauricio Pochettino’s men were unable to hold on and didn’t deserve to take much from the game either, succumbing to two late goals from their London rivals. It would have made the international break that bit longer and they will now be raring to go for the visit of Liverpool. Due to the delay in getting White Hart Lane ready this will be only their second home game of the first five league games and they’ll be looking to take advantage of that.
No team spent more than Liverpool in the summer and on the back of reaching the Champions League final the season previous, expectation has been through the roof amongst the Anfield faithful that this year is going to be their year and they’ll actually win the Premier League title for the first ever time. We assumed they would come flying out the traps and in fairness they swept aside West Ham at home on the opening day to win 4-0 without really breaking sweat. Since that match, however, it’s been more about their resilience and defensive capabilities with narrow wins away to Crystal Palace and Leicester, with a similar victory at home to Brighton sandwiched in between. Jurgen Klopp’s men have not scored the number of goals that they would have liked but the manager will be delighted with the attitude his team have shown being able to grind wins out. It’s an overly used cliché but the 2-1 win over Leicester last time out and perhaps the win over Palace are games they would have dropped points in previously, so it’s a good sign. It’s still very early days however and with Chelsea and Watford also on maximum points that only serves to reinforce that point even more.
Spurs were criticised for not spending money and failing to bring in any new players over the summer with some questioning the ambition of the club. With a very expensive new stadium on the way it’s somewhat understandable and expected but the defeat to Watford only served as a reminder how difficult this league is, particularly if you stand still. Although they had a 100% record going into that match it’s fair to say that the quality of their performances had not been great and there will need to be improvement if they want to get back to winning ways on Saturday at home to the early pacesetters.
One of Liverpool’s big summer signings has yet to kick a ball for his new club even though he started for Brazil during the international break. Fabinho was signed from Monaco and although he made the bench for the first match against West Ham last month, he’s not been quoted since. Having spent over £40m on the players it seems remarkable that he’s not managed to get some game time and having travelled all over the world in the past week for his country it’s unlikely he’ll play any part on Saturday against Spurs. It’s testament to the form of the veteran James Milner, who many expected Fabinho would replace, that Liverpool don’t look like they are in need of swapping in such a gifted player at the moment.
Tottenham v Liverpool Betting Tip
Spurs finished one place and two points better off than Liverpool in the league last season and they also held the upper hand over the Reds in the meetings between the two. A come from behind 2-2 draw at Anfield in February followed a thumping 4-1 win at Wembley back in October. You have to go back to 2014 to find Liverpool’s last win on the road against Tottenham but they have managed a couple of draws in that time. Due to their respective starts to the season it’s Liverpool who are favourites to win Saturday’s match which is surprising when you consider how well Spurs have played at home under Pochettino – they have lost only five times in the previous two seasons at Wembley or White Hart Lane in the league.
This will be, without a doubt, Liverpool’s biggest test of the season and the first time they face one of the other top teams. Spurs, although slightly fortunate, got the better of United a couple of weeks back and will be looking to follow up that win but have to play much better. Liverpool have stood up to the challenges posed by the likes of Leicester and Palace but this will be a different sort of test. We know how good Spurs are when they get on a roll and they dismantled their opponents in this fixture last season. I don’t think they’ll have it their own way this time but I think Liverpool will drop the first points of their campaign with the most likely outcome of this one a draw – which wouldn’t be a terrible result for either and has been a popular one between these two.
Selection Draw 27/10 @ Betfair
