Spurs are looking to build on their impressive previous campaign after finishing in third place last season. Had it not been for the unpredictable rise of eventual champions Leicester City, then Tottenham might have taken the award for most impressive team in the league.
Manager Pochettino didn’t feel that many improvements were needed in the squad with only Victor Wanyama and Eredivisie top scorer Vincent Janssen coming into the squad this summer.
Spurs have made a slow but solid start to the Premier League season. On the opening weekend against Everton they may have felt fortunate to come away with a point. Throughout the game, they were susceptible to conceding chances from long balls and set pieces whilst Erik Lamela’s goal came against the run of play.
Nonetheless, they took on Crystal Palace last week with a point under their belt and got their first win against Alan Pardew’s side thanks to a late goal from new boy Wanyama.
Both Moussa Dembele (suspension) and Hugo Lloris (hamstring) will miss the game on Saturday meaning a start in goal for second-choice keeper Michel Vorm.
In front of him will most likely be a back four of Kyle Walker, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose. For their previous two games, Wanyama and Eric Dier have protected the defence and for the game against Palace, Dele Alli was dropped in favour of new signing Vincent Janssen, which meant that Harry Kane dropped into the number 10 role.
Tottenham’s strengths are clear, with one of the best defences in the league last season, their lack of rotation means that the back four have formed a solid partnership in front of the keeper.
I also like the defensive midfield combination of Wanyama and Dier, both players aren’t the most attacking and that means that there is a very rigid structure to the defensive side of the team which allows for free flowing football from the attackers.
The talent going forward is obvious too, Harry Kane has had a remarkable past two seasons and despite a poor showing in the Euro’s with England, it would be naive to not regard him as a danger. Janssen has also improved early on despite yet opening his goal scoring account whilst the creativity of Christian Eriksen and Lamela from out wide will provide the goalscorers with plenty of chances. Whilst I think he will start on the bench, Dele Alli is also a very talented player and I think no matter how the game is going, we will see him feature at some point.
Whilst they looked weak at defending corners and free kicks against Everton, they also looked dangerous from set pieces against Palace. Spurs have no shortage of tall players and that mixed with our struggles defending from a dead ball situations, this is a massive danger for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Spurs also love to switch the ball. Last season, with Kane leading the line, it was no surprise that they liked to get the ball wide, with both Rose and Walker providing extra bodies forward on the overlap.
Without hoping to trigger the curse of the commentator, Pochettino’s men also have some weaknesses. Don’t get me wrong, Michel Vorm is a good goalkeeper but he isn’t Hugo Lloris; also as I mentioned before, without rotation the back four and Lloris have been able to form an understanding and that is interrupted by the absence of the Frenchman.
The team also lacks pace going forward; they have plenty of creativity but nobody to burst past defenders. The only pace offered is from their two full-backs and if they push forward, it leaves spaces at the back for Liverpool – in particular, Sadio Mane – to exploit.
As with previous years too, they can buckle under pressure and misplace passes at the back, over the years Liverpool have been gifted goals by Tottenham and whilst the end result wasn’t the same, they gifted some chances to Everton too. With Jurgen Klopp’s pressing game implemented into Liverpool, we some golden chances for the Reds.
Despite these problems, Spurs are no walk in the park. As always, it will be a tough, competitive game between the two sides who are looking to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Klopp’s first Liverpool game was against Tottenham away and that ended 0-0, so this time around the German will hope to go one better and walk away from White Hart Lane with all three points.
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