Chris Sutton believes Jose Mourinho will view Tottenham’s clash against Liverpool on Wednesday as the perfect opportunity to prove his side’s title credentials by getting one over the current Premier League champions.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had a chance to move to the summit of the table after Tottenham were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace yesterday afternoon but they spurned the opportunity after they needed a second-half penalty to rescue a point from their trip to Craven Cottage.
That result meant that Tottenham will go into the clash at Anfield top of the table and Sutton believes that Harry Kane and Son Heung-min could potentially have a field day against a makeshift Liverpool backline.
The pundit wrote in his column for The Daily Mail: “Jose Mourinho won’t broadcast — or even admit — that Tottenham are in the title race, but deep down he has to be looking at Wednesday’s trip to Anfield as a massive opportunity.
“Liverpool have a makeshift defence and Tottenham boast the best attacking duo in the Premier League.
“The champions had to remove Joel Matip at half-time because of a back problem on Sunday. Jurgen Klopp was already facing a defensive injury crisis, so to lose Matip was a blow and a half. It really is all hands on deck now.”
However, Sutton admitted that Mourinho is unlikely to change his approach and take unnecessary risks given the firepower the Reds boast of going forward.
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The former Blackburn striker expects the Lilywhites to keep it tight at the back and try to punish Liverpool on the counter attack.
Sutton added: “This is not to say Mourinho will smell blood and go gung-ho at Anfield. That’s not his style. Spurs will try to make themselves hard to beat, first and foremost. But with Son Heung-min and Harry Kane, they can really stretch Liverpool.
“On the flip side, I can’t recall many back-to-back matches in which Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino didn’t turn up.
“They were lacking their mojo against Fulham, especially in the first half, but Klopp will know lightning is unlikely to strike twice with his talented front three.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Mourinho really has no reason to change the approach that has worked so well in other big matches over recent weeks. In fact, I believe the way we set up against the likes of Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal, could work against Liverpool as well.
The likes of Salah and Mane need space to run in behind, which is why we will likely defend fairly deep. Sissoko and Hojbjerg will be tasked with cutting out the space between the full-backs and centre-backs, which Liverpool’s forwards love to exploit.
Given that Jurgen Klopp’s men have only one way of playing, which is to commit bodies forward, there will be spaces for us to exploit on the counter-attack when we win the ball back.
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