Despite finally finding the net 7 times during their Champions League encounter with minnows Maribor this Tuesday, Liverpool return to the Premier League to face Spurs, a team with one of the best defences.
Spurs on the other hand return from their encounter with the current European champions, Real Madrid, where they picked up a very deserved point, but at the same time, kept out all Real’s chances from open play, from the likes of Ronaldo, Benzema, Kroos etc etc, only conceding from the penalty spot. At the other end, Spurs had 2 or 3 great chances to go on and win the game, only to be thwarted by their excellent goalkeeper Navas.
If you hypothetically reversed those two fixtures, I can see Spurs putting plenty of goals past Maribor as well, but I can’t imagine this Liverpool side fairing anywhere near as well as Spurs did against Real Madrid.
For sure every game is different, and I agree with plenty of football pundits, who say Liverpool are great going forward, and in Coutinho they have one of the best players in the league, but their defence is weak.
Spurs on the other hand, have both a strong attack and a very solid defence, and if you compare the two midfields, Spurs look the better of the two teams there also.
I do feel Jordan Henderson was given the tag of ‘the next Steven Gerrard’ far too early in his short career at Liverpool. If you also compare his mediocre performances for England, against those of our academy star Harry Winks, there’s no contest. Add that together with our other midfielders, Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele, Spurs are superior.
The key to this game from a Spurs perspective, is that they must come out of the traps flying from the off, which has been an issue with all their previous home games this season so far.
They have been far too slow in their build-up play, and have not pressed their opponents quickly enough from the start of matches. If they do this against Liverpool they will find themselves on the back-foot from the off, and possibly go a goal or two down, finding themselves chasing the game early.
So in my opinion, if they press Liverpool from the start, hopefully scoring a goal or two,
then Spurs will control the majority of the game, and go on to win it.
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