Liverpool vs Tottenham preview, prediction, team news and head-to-head

• Over 3.5 goals

• Both teams to score

• Liverpool to win

Liverpool, locked in a multi-team battle for Champions League qualification, were beaten by Wolves in their last league outing and thus missed the chance to climb into the top-four.

Arne Slot’s side have since gained revenge over Wolves to progress in the FA Cup. However, they followed this by losing 1-0 to Galatasaray in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 showdown.

Tottenham, meanwhile, are in real danger of being relegated. Currently sitting just one point above the bottom three, this will be the first of nine ‘cup finals’ to preserve their status as a Premier League club.

Their 5-2 defeat at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League made it four defeats from four under Igor Tudor and six consecutive losses for the first time in Spurs’ entire history. However, they have also won 66% of their Premier League points away from home (19/29) this season.

Hence, they could be galvanized by a trip to Anfield that allows them to focus on Tudor’s principles, who wants his team to pass aggressively while remaining defensively robust. Arguably that kind of football works best against the elite clubs, especially teams like Liverpool who are in patchy form.

Liverpool have lost just one of their last 31 home league games against Tottenham Hotspur (W21 D9), and are unbeaten in 14 (W10 D4) since a 2-0 loss in May 2011.

Tottenham Hotspur have won just one of their last 16 Premier League games against Liverpool (D3 L12), losing the last four in a row since a 2-1 home win in September 2023.

Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur is the highest scoring fixture in Premier League history, with 209 goals. Liverpool have scored 127 of these, with only the Reds themselves netting more against a specific opponent in the competition (131 vs Newcastle).

Liverpool Premier League form: 🟩🟥🟩🟩🟩🟥

Liverpool form (all competitions): 🟩🟩🟩🟥🟩🟥

Tottenham Premier League form: 🟧🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥

Tottenham form (all competitions): 🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥🟥

Liverpool will make a late check on Alisson Becker after the goalkeeper missed the trip to Istanbul with a fitness issue. 

Federico Chiesa also missed out in midweek due to illness, while Alexander Isak, Wataru Endo, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley all remain sidelined.

Spurs head to Merseyside missing a host of first-team players, including Micky van de Ven; the central defender is suspended after being sent-off in the 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace.

Wilson Odobert, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Ben Davies and Lucas Bergvall are all long-term injury casualties, but Destiny Udogie could return here after a month out with a hamstring issue.

Tudor noted that he was not sure if Cristian Romero and Joao Palhinha would be able to feature following a clash of heads which saw Tottenham finish the Atletico game with nine men.

Liverpool: Mamardashvili; Frimpong, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Jones; Salah, Szoboszlai, Gakpo; Ekitike

Tottenham: Vicario; Porro, Danso, Dragusin, Spence; Gray, Sarr; Tel, Simons, Richarlison; Solanke

Slot should get his wish on Sunday, playing a team that is unlikely to set up in a low block in an attempt to frustrate his Liverpool side. So there will be no excuses for not creating chances aplenty. 

Then it will be on his attackers to be ruthless and put a poor Tottenham team to the sword.

At some point, you would assume Spurs will start picking up some wins and ease fears of relegation. We just don’t expect them to get anything at Anfield.

Correct score prediction: Liverpool 4-1 Tottenham