TOTTENHAM VS LIVERPOOL: PREDICTED LINEUP

Liverpool travel to London tomorrow to take on Antonio Conte’s Spurs side. The Reds are coming off the back of a 3-1 home win over Newcastle, whilst Spurs have been without a game since a 3-0 win over Norwich two weeks ago. We take a look at how Jürgen Klopp could line his team up for the encounter.

You can read our preview for the game here:

https://made4liverpool.com/2021/12/18/tottenham-vs-liverpool-preview/

It’s a very quick turnaround for the Reds after despatching Newcastle on Thursday night. Kickoff at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium comes less than 67 hours after the final whistle at Anfield. As a result, the manager could opt to rotate his side. He will be without Fabinho, Van Dijk and Jones.

The trio were ruled out with suspected positive Covid test results last time out and are expected to miss out again here. With the spike in positive test results across the Premier League, it is hard to know for certain just who will be available for this clash. Rumours are rife on social media that skipper Jordan Henderson has tested positive.

With no official word on it, we’ll ignore that for now and pick a side from the players we know are officially available. In goal should be Alisson Becker, with the Brazilian thankfully getting over the injury problems that plagued him over the course of the past two seasons.

Ahead of him, Trent Alexander-Arnold should continue at right back. At left back, there’s a shout for bringing in Kostas Tsimikas but I reckon Robertson will get another go here. This is a huge game and the manager will want to pick his main men and save any rest for later.

At centre back, Virgil Van Dijk joins Nat Phillips on the sidelines, leaving three options; Matip, Konaté and Joe Gomez. Matip and Konaté paired up to good effect against Newcastle and showed signs of a good partnership.

There is a concern over Matip playing twice in three days but with Gomez having just returned from a lengthy spell out with a calf injury, the gaffer might feel he has no choice. Asking Gomez to make his first appearance in over two months against the likes of Son, away to Spurs is a tad risky.

The same back five we saw on Thursday night should go again here then, with the League Cup quarter final clash against Leicester City next week (if it goes ahead) an ideal time to rest and rotate the side ahead of Boxing Day.

In midfield, Jordan Henderson and Thiago must be shoo-ins if available. The third spot could possibly go to Naby Keita after an eye catching cameo against Newcastle. Oxlade-Chamberlain hasn’t made the most of his last two starts and could well find himself on the bench here.

James Milner offers another option and could start if Henderson is out as rumoured. Should the skipper be fine to play, then the 36 year old will continue with his ‘off the bench to help see out a victory’ role. Whichever trio gets picked need to win the battle against Hjogberg and Skipp.

Upfront, Roberto Firmino marked his return from a hamstring injury with a cameo off the bench on Thursday. He has a very good record against Spurs and is in contention to start. If he does start, it could be for Sadio Mané instead of Jota. Mané has played a lot of minutes recently and is suffering a bit of a goal drought.

It’s now been seven games without a goal or assist for the Senegalese. It isn’t a cause for concern yet as his general play has still been decent, he was involved in two goals against Newcastle for example. He’s just been unlucky infront of goal and possibly slightly jaded.

That would then mean a start for Diogo Jota on the left wing, with Bobby through the middle. Jota has showcased his versatility since joining the club having played in all three attacking positions and even behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1. He was back in the goals on Thursday and will want to keep his run going.

Jürgen Klopp might deem it too soon for Bobby to start though, seeing as he missed a chunk of time and has only just returned. In that case we’ll get to see what has fast become the new front three of Salah, Jota, Mané.

Predicted team:

Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Konaté, Robertson, Henderson, Keita, Thiago, Salah, Jota, Mané.

Subs: Kelleher, Williams, Gomez, Tsimikas, Milner, Morton, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Minamino, Firmino.