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With the international break now over, attentions once again turn to the Premier League, and by far the biggest match of this weekend’s fixtures sees Tottenham face off with Liverpool at Wembley in a clash of title contenders.
Last season saw two titanic matches between the two – Tottenham destroyed Liverpool 4-1 at Wembley in October 2017, scoring three goals in the first half, and in the return fixture at Anfield it looked like Mo Salah had earned all three points for the Reds before an injury-time penalty from Harry Kane rescued a point for Spurs.
Hopefully this weekend will produce a match equally entertaining – and these 5 players could step up to decide the outcome.
#1: Harry Kane
He might be looking tired right now following a seemingly non-stop period of action from last season all the way through the World Cup, but there’s no doubt that Harry Kane is still the most dangerous player that Tottenham possess. Even this supposedly unfit and jaded version of Kane has scored 2 goals in 4 games thus far this season – breaking his August duck and managing to score a tremendous header against Manchester United despite not playing all that well.
Last season’s fixture between Spurs and Liverpool at Wembley saw Kane torment Dejan Lovren so badly to the point where the Croatian had to be substituted after just 31 minutes, and while it’s hard to see the England captain doing the same to Virgil van Dijk or Joe Gomez, there can be no doubt that if it comes to a single chance, Kane would be the man that Spurs fans would want it to fall to.
A recent interview with Mauricio Pochettino has seen him state that he doesn’t feel that Kane is tired or burned out, and thus he’ll have no issue starting him on Saturday and has every faith that he’ll start to score regularly again soon. If that happens this weekend, then Liverpool could be in big trouble.
#2: Alisson Becker
When he was signed from Roma for a massive fee of £66m, Liverpool fans were all hoping that Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson Becker would be the missing piece of their puzzle that would allow them to finally win the Premier League. After all, he certainly looked like an upgrade on the mistake-prone pair of Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius.
And the season started amazingly well for the new signing – Alisson was able to save practically everything thrown at him and managed to show some of the footwork that earned him the label ‘the Messi of goalkeeping’ when he coolly chipped the ball over Anthony Knockaert during Liverpool’s victory over Brighton.
But then came the Leicester game and his astonishing howler that allowed Kelechi Iheanacho to steal the ball from him and cross for Rachid Ghezzal to score a tap-in. It was the first goal the Reds had conceded all season and a reminder that sometimes, attempting tricks isn’t the best idea for a goalkeeper.
With that said though, Alisson currently still has the best save percentage in the Premier League – just above 90% - and that means that Tottenham are going to have to be at their best if they want to beat him. If he can keep Kane, Lucas et al from scoring, Liverpool could come away with the win.
#3: Mohamed Salah
The Premier League’s Golden Boot winner last season, Mohamed Salah remains Liverpool’s most dangerous player. Tottenham fans won’t forget the damage he did to their defence last February any time soon – most notably when he slalomed through to score his second goal of the eventual 2-2 draw with just minutes remaining. It was his third goal against the Lilywhites that season but by far the most memorable.
Despite a disappointing World Cup campaign, 2018/19 has seen Salah pick up where he left off last season in a Liverpool shirt. He’s already scored 2 goals and picked up an assist in his 4 Premier League appearances, and to add to that, he’s also had more shots on target than any other Premier League player thus far. Alongside striking partners Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, he looks more deadly than ever.
Tottenham’s defenders – likely some combination of Davinson Sanchez, Jan Vertonghen, and Toby Alderweireld – will have their work cut out if they want to keep the Egyptian quiet on Saturday and if they fail to do so then Salah could well have another field day – and allow Liverpool to capture all three points.
#4: Lucas Moura
A January signing for Tottenham who arrived with little fanfare, Brazilian forward Lucas Moura has really hit the ground running in 2018/19. Recently named as the Premier League’s Player of the Month for August, Lucas scored his first goal for Spurs in their 3-1 win over Fulham and followed that up with a brace against Manchester United in his best performance to date.
Most recently he set up Tottenham’s goal in their 2-1 defeat to Watford – sending a cross into the box that was turned into the net by Watford midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure. However, during that game the Brazilian didn’t look quite as sharp as he had against United and he ran down too many blind alleys to be completely effective despite Watford clearly fearing his pace.
If he can find his form against Liverpool’s defence on Saturday though, the Reds could be in for a rude awakening. Liverpool’s back line have been exemplary thus far this season but they have yet to face someone with the pace and power of the Brazilian. If Lucas plays anything like he did against Manchester United, then he could well prove to be a matchwinner.
#5: Joe Gomez
When Liverpool spent around £75m to bring Virgil van Dijk aboard from Southampton last season, plenty of eyebrows were raised. But the Dutchman definitely shored up Liverpool’s defence even if it never looked impregnable. This season the Reds’ back line has looked even stronger – but it’s young England defender Joe Gomez who’s been earning the plaudits rather than his more expensive partner.
Gomez has been simply fantastic since returning from an ankle injury sustained last May, and it appears that he’s earned the full faith of manager Jurgen Klopp, as he’s displaced Dejan Lovren as van Dijk’s main partner and has played every minute of Liverpool’s 4 Premier League victories thus far this season. And of course, the Reds have the best defensive record in the league – conceding just 1 goal, which was caused by Alisson’s blunder against Leicester.
Liverpool may well have only come away with a point from that game with the Foxes had it not been for Gomez. It looked like Leicester midfielder James Maddison would slot home after waltzing through Liverpool’s defence, but Gomez appeared from nowhere with an incredible block to deny him a goal. It’s the type of defending that, if he reproduces it against Tottenham, could help to decide the game.
