Former Spurs striker Darren Bent expects Tottenham to be on the front foot and take the game to Liverpool when they take to the field at Anfield later this afternoon.
Speaking on behalf of Genting Bet, the former England international previewed the game for and talked about the difference in mentality during his time at the club compared to now.
Bent, who spent two seasons at Spurs after signing from Charlton in the summer of 2007, insisted that the club had no inferiority complex when competing against the top sides even back then but admitted that finishing in the top four of the Premier League was much harder a decade ago.
He said, “I don’t think there was an inferior mentality but when I was at Spurs, the top four were the top four and it was impossible to crack.
“It was Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. And that was it. It was all about who could finish fifth.
“But I think now with the top four being as open as it is, the state of Manchester United and where Chelsea are at the minute, I don’t think there’s an inferior mentality.
“Spurs have nothing to fear; they got into the Champions League final last year. For them it’s about how they can get back to the stage they were at last season.”
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The 35-year-old was also quite bewildered by Spurs’ contrasting performances against Watford last weekend and Red Star in midweek.
He added, “As a striker, it’s pretty hard to doubt yourself when you’re scoring goals consistently.
“But as a team you tend to get frustrated, thinking: ‘What’s going on? Why aren’t we scoring? Why isn’t that happening?’
“With Spurs, it doesn’t add up seeing how they played against Watford compared to how they played against Red Star [Belgrade].”
Bent also insisted that he expects Pochettino’s side to take the game to the hosts instead of sitting back.
“Spurs are going to go the game and try to win but at the same time they will show them respect; they can’t go out there all guns blazing because Liverpool will carve through them”, Bent predicted.
“The result against Red Star Belgrade was a real confidence booster, especially with Harry Kane bagging a couple and Erik Lamela playing really well. They’re going to go toe-to-toe.”
Spurs Web Opinion
While Spurs do need to approach the game with a certain level of pragmatism, I believe they will get a lot of joy if they get the ball into the channels. Several teams including Manchester United and Genk have demonstrated that this Reds defence can be got at and so it will be interesting to see how offensive a line-up Pochettino opts to play.
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