Preview of Saturday’s lunchtime KO- and Klopp’s first game in charge of Liverpool
Nearly two weeks after Brendan Rodgers was sacked by Liverpool after the Merseyside derby, all eyes are on new manager Jurgen Klopp, as he takes his new side to Tottenham on Saturday lunchtime.
It’s the first of Klopp’s very tough opening fixtures for Liverpool, the beginning of a run that will see Liverpool play Rubin Kazan, Southampton, Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Man City all in his first 8 games.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 6 games in all competitions, while Tottenham have only lost to Arsenal in the Capital One Cup in their last 6. However, Liverpool were dealt a huge blow yesterday when young centre-back Joe Gomez was ruled out for the rest of the season after damaging his Cruciate Ligaments on international duty.
Spurs are currently sitting one point and two places above the Reds, with Southampton the only team separating the two teams in the table. Tottenham are favourites to win at 7/5, while Liverpool are 9/5 to take the three points.
A win for either team can throw them right back into the top-4 mix, and Klopp in particular will be looking to get off to a good start and take a win from this fixture to build some early momentum. All eyes will certainly be on how his team do at Saturday lunchtime.
Spurs will be looking to break their stuttering form against Liverpool, they’ve lost the last 5 games between the teams, with their last win coming in 2012 with goals from Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon at White Hart Lane. Since then, they’ve taken some difficult beatings, including a 5-0 at the Lane and 4-0 at Anfield in the 2013/14 season, and a 3-0 loss at home early in the 2014/15 season.
Spurs vs Liverpool will be kicking off at 12:15 UK time at White Hart Lane on Saturday, and will be available to watch on BT Sport.
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
