Tottenham and Liverpool will go head-to-head in the Premier League at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday evening with both sides looking to continue their good momentum from recent games.
Spurs claimed a 5-0 win over Southampton last time out in the league before a 4-3 win over Manchester United in midweek to progress to the EFL Cup semi-final, while Liverpool held Fulham to a 2-2 draw despite having ten men for most of the game before claiming a comfortable 2-1 win over Southampton in the EFL Cup themselves.
Both sides have injury issues and a busy schedule coming up which could see the managers look to make changes, and this is how GIVEMESPORT expect the teams to line up.
Tottenham Team News
Defensive crisis continues
Despite the big win over Man Utd and Southampton, Ange Postecoglou has got a selection headache in front of him with several injury issues in defence. Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven and Ben Davies are unavailable while Destiny Udogie is a doubt with a knock, meaning the back four will essentially pick itself.
Guglielmo Vicario, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert are long-term absentees, while Rodrigo Bentancur will serve the final game of his suspension too. Timo Werner missed the win over Man Utd through illness, but he could return.
|
Tottenham Injuries and Suspensions |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Player |
Injury |
Potential Return Date |
|
Rodrigo Bentancur |
Suspended |
26/12/2024 |
|
Timo Werner |
Illness |
22/12/2024 |
|
Destiny Udogie |
Knock |
22/12/2024 |
|
Ben Davies |
Hamstring |
29/12/2024 |
|
Richarlison |
Hamstring |
15/01/2025 |
|
Guglielmo Vicario |
Ankle |
01/03/2025 |
|
Micky Van de Ven |
Hamstring |
January 2025 |
|
Cristian Romero |
Hamstring |
January 2025 |
|
Wilson Odobert |
Hasmstring |
Unknown |
|
Mikey Moore |
Illness |
26/12/2024 |
Postecoglou Drops Team News Update
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou shared an update on the fitness of his squad.
“Timo [Werner] was unwell yesterday [Thursday], so we’ve got 48 hours before the game, hopefully he’ll recover, and the plan is that Destiny [Udogie] should be okay.
“No, no [Moore won’t be available]. He hasn’t been involved so we’ll need to get a least a couple of weeks training into Mikey and get him back up to full speed. Hopefully he is not too far away.”
Tottenham Predicted XI
Kulusevski to start centrally
- Tottenham Predicted XI: Forster; Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Udogie; Sarr, Bissouma; Johnson, Kulusevski, Son; Solanke.
- Tottenham Predicted Substitutes: Austin (GK), Dorrington (DEF), Spence (DEF), Reguilon (DEF), Bergvall (MID), Maddison (MID), Olusesi (MID), Werner (FWD), Lankshear (FWD).
Spurs are unlikely to change too much simply because they have a lack of options available to them. The pace of Brennan Johnson should see him come back into the side and it’s likely that in-form Dejan Kulusevski likely to move into a more central role. That means £170,000-per-week man James Maddison is likely to drop to the bench alongside £165,000-per-week forward Timo Werner.
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Liverpool Team News
Konate still ruled out
Arne Slot is set to be without defensive duo Connor Bradley and Ibrahima Konate once again as they continue their recovery from injuries, but the Reds will be able to welcome Alisson back between the sticks after Kelleher started in midweek in the cup.
Diogo Jota, Federico Chiesa and Kostas Tsimikas returned in midweek from injuries but may not be ready to start the game, but Andrew Robertson is available again after serving a one-game ban against the Saints following his red card against Fulham.
|
Liverpool Injuries and Suspensions |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Player |
Injury |
Potential Return Date |
|
Connor Bradley |
Hamstring |
05/01/2025 |
|
Ibrahima Konate |
Knee |
05/01/2025 |
Slot Drops Team News
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Slot shared an update on his squad ahead of the game.
“These are the two that are still ‘in the red’, so they don’t train with us at the moment. They are on their way back but they don’t train with the team yet.
“That is, what I’ve said before, quite difficult. We thought, I thought, that [Diogo] Jota would have been back a bit earlier already and sometimes the end stage of rehab takes a bit longer.
“Sometimes they join [training] and then they are like, ‘I’m not completely ready to start yet.’ So, let’s wait and see but we have very good rehab personnel over here and they’ve done some good work already with Alisson [Becker] and a few others.
“The main thing is that if they come back, they are ready to come back and we must not focus on one, two or three days. It’s more important for the long term that they stay fit afterwards.
“Until now they have done really well and hopefully with Conor and Ibou the same thing happens.”
Liverpool Predicted XI
Jota to return to the lineup
- Liverpool Predicted XI: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Jones, Gakpo; Jota.
- Liverpool Predicted Substitutes: Kelleher (GK), Quansah (DEF), Tsimikas (DEF), Endo (MID), Szoboszlai (MID), Elliott (MID), Chiesa (FWD), Diaz (FWD), Nunez (FWD).
Slot was able to rest most of his first-team in the midweek cup win over Southampton, which means several changes are likely for this game. Van Dijk, Gravenberch, Salah and Jota could all return to the starting lineup while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson should come back in at full-back.
Big-earning forwards Chiesa, Diaz and Nunez are likely to be on the bench.
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