Adam LallanaGetty

Liverpool Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Tottenham

Liverpool host Tottenham this weekend with a dual purpose: to propel themselves further away from their opponents in the top-four chase and make amends for their humiliation in the reverse fixture.

Jurgen Klopp's side were abysmal in a 4-1 defeat at Wembley in October and will want to right that result on Sunday.

The Reds have lost just one of their last 23 home Premier League games against Spurs, who made light work of Manchester United in midweek.

Article continues below

LIVERPOOL INJURIES


Adam Lallana is a doubt for the showdown due to a muscle issue.

“It’s really unlucky. It was a really serious injury in the summer. Because of Adam’s quality and attitude in training, it looks immediately like we can put him in, but physically he’s not fit," Klopp explained.

“The two things that happened after his big injury were in the 10 or 15 minutes after he came on. From nil to 100 in a second, and that’s maybe what caused the problem.

“We really tried to be sensible with it, to do the right thing. But it didn’t work, twice. It’s really not a big thing, three games is like not being injured.

“He’s maybe available for Tottenham, and if not then he’ll have missed three games. That’s really OK but, of course, it’s not cool. The body needs to adapt again to the intensity.”

Ragnar Klavan's fitness will also be assessed with the defender also nursing a minor muscle strain.

Nathaniel Clyne is edging closer to rejoining team training after recovering from surgery to his back.


SUSPENSIONS


Neither side have any suspension concerns for this fixture.


LIVERPOOL POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP


It will be interesting to see which centre-back pairing Klopp opts for. Dejan Lovren and Joel Matip were used in the 3-0 victory over Huddersfield, with Virgil van Dijk on the bench.

The Dutch defender has only featured alongside Matip thus far, and with the Reds boss eager to ensure things are "in tune" at the heart of defence, it would be intriguing if he selects the Croatian to partner the £75 million man.

Lovren was excellent on Tuesday, but turned in a shambolic performance against Tottenham last time out and was subbed off on 31 minutes.

Will he be given a chance to offset that nightmarish afternoon?

The other area of interest is in midfield. James Milner was used ahead of Gini Wijnaldum and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at Huddersfield, but should switch out on Sunday. 

The trio of Jordan Henderson, Emre Can and Wijnaldum has worked well in the past, but 'Ox' would offer more dynamism in the centre of the park.

Possible LFC v SpursGoal

TOTTENHAM TEAM NEWS


Only two points separate Tottenham and Liverpool in the standings, with the teams having the two most lethal attacking players in the league in Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah. 

Spurs' performance against United, in which they applied pressure from kick off, will be their template again at Anfield.

“We've got to put in the same performance,” Kane said. “Liverpool are a very strong attacking team, especially at home.

Harry Kane TOTWGetty

“They've got some fast players and last year we didn't cope with that very well and we were poor throughout the whole team.

“We can take confidence from the United win and this is the performance we need to play against the big teams home and away.

“We played well against Liverpool at home when we beat them 4-1 and so we have to go there full of confidence.”

Toby Alderweireld continues his rehabilitation and is not yet ready to play.


TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME


Kick off is at 16:30 BST (09:30 CST) and the match will be televised live in the UK on Sky Sports.


BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS


  • The last time Liverpool lost both league games to Spurs with the same manager was in 1986-87 (Kenny Dalglish).

  • Liverpool are unbeaten in each of their last 14 Premier League games at Anfield (W8 D6) – they last went on a longer run in December 2016 (17 games).

  • Jurgen Klopp is unbeaten in his last 12 home Premier League meetings against the ‘big six’ (W6 D6) since a 1-0 defeat to Man Utd in January 2016.

Advertisement