Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool

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Tuesday 24th October 7.45pm
League Cup 4th Round
Anfield​

Another away game and another low-scoring, frustrating draw.
We lacked energy and invention and they're both things that we'll need for this one, I think.
An inevitably weakened side travel to a stadium that we've traditionally struggled on.
The signs aren't good, but it's an opportunity for youngsters and fringe players to impress.

I've already done one match thread for these teams and it was very recent, so I won't go over old ground.
We all know that both sides will press high and some rotation will be involved.
Possibly a chance to get a mental edge over each other for the managers, though.
Three games and three draws between them with these sides, IIRC.

The last round saw both sides progress comfortably, as both faced teams from the lower divisions.
Spurs beat Gillingham 5-0 at WHL, despite having made eleven changes from the weekend side.
Liverpool traveled to Derby and coasted to a 3-0 victory, having also made changes to their team.

Here are the Spurs highlights, for anyone who needs to see us scoring a few goals:

Ah, that's better!

And here are the Liverpool goals, as I couldn't find a decent quality set of highlights, for some reason:

Decent finishing and crap defending, frankly.

Sissoko starts his suspension with this game, while Kane, Edwards and Alderweireld are out.
A host of probably changes await, but no other injury news.
Liverpool have no suspensions and a short injury list.
Mane has a knock, while Ojo and Gomez are back in training after long lay-offs.

Lineups for each team's last League Cup game:

Spurs: Vorm; Trippier, Carter-Vickers, Wimmer, Davies; Winks, Carroll; Lamela, Onomah, Eriksen; Janssen.
Subs: Whiteman, Vertonghen, Walkes, Wanyama, N'Koudou, Edwards, Son.
League form: WWWWDD.

Liverpool: Karius; Clyne, Matip, Klavan, Montero; Lucas, Henderson; Grujic, Firmino, Coutinho; Origi.
Subs: Mignolet, Lovren, Milner, Can, Ejaria, Mane, Ings.
League form: WWWWDW.

Referee: Jonathan Moss.

Pretty sure that Pochettino will field a weakened side, but will it be the whole eleven, again?
Who should be risked, who should be dropped and who needs 90 minutes?
Do we need to change anything tactically to avoid another clash of pressing sides?

 

Paul Stewart

 

YES !!!

 

One minute, two comments and a Paul Stewart!

 

Sneaky

 

Paul Stewart : the man whose very name keeps Spurcat from mental oblivion.

 

I wonder how high up this forum is when you search for his name?
Is Paul Stewart going to accidentally stumble on this stuff one day, while Googling his own name? He'd be very confused.

 

It's not even on the first page of Google search results.

Try harder people!

 

Liverpool at Anfield playing well is usually a sure bet they will beat an average playing Spurs, I think we can kiss goodbye to this cup.

 

We changed nine or ten for Arsenal at home in the league cup last year. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw something similar tomorrow.

If there's anything likely when we play Liverpool, it's a draw, especially considering a replay won't suit either team.

 

I believe replays were scrapped a few seasons ago.
If its level after extra time then its the dreaded penalties - and we know how that usually goes!

 

Especially against a team that referees are intent on giving so much practice...

 

I wouldn't mind seeing this team:

Vorm; Trippier, Carter-Vickers, Wimmer, Davies; Winks, Dier, Carroll; N'koudou, Onomah, Janssen

Dier because he missed a few games and shouldn't need the rest as much as others.

I'm being a hypocrite as last year I was critical of Poch for not taking this cup seriously. However with the injuries we have and the fact we have champions league to contend with as well I'm not overly fussed this season.

I still think the team above could be competitive but can't see it getting a result at Anfield, which quite frankly wouldn't be the end of the world.

 

Here's out lineup for this evening's PL2 match against Leicester, so make of it what you will...

 

Dier because Toby might be back at the weekend and Wanyama will play DM against Leicester.

 

Here's how the media reports Pool and Spurs differently. If they beat our B team tomorrow the story will be "Liverpool beat fellow title contenders Spurs". If the situation was reversed and a full strength Spurs beat a Liverpool B team, the story would be "Spurs beat Liverpool - but it was their B team".

 

Marcus Edwards is apparently out for up to 6 weeks, which is a real shame. - would loved to have seen him have some game time tonight.

Good news is that Poch expects Toby to be back for the Leicester game at the weekend

 

The boy Pochettino is yet again an utter nightmare for the gossipy hacks (Sissoko etc) .
And again making it clear that squad rotation is important for the campaigns this season.

 

I agree with Cracker's assessment and selection in that while I want to see the club do well on the domestic trophy front, with the injuries we have at the moment, we need to keep our first teamers as fresh as possible and save them for Prem, CL and FA Cup, so a side like the one that faced Gillingham in the previous round is what I'd expect.

Vorm
Tripps, CCV, Kev, Davies
Winks, Dier
Onomah, Carroll, Nkoudou
Janssen

Lopez, KWP, Walkes, Dembele, Lamela, Son, Harrison

I can see Liverpool going pretty strong, they haven't got Europe to worry about and will know that Poch is likely to rotate tonight so it's a good chance to somewhat improve their odds of a victory by going near full strength, might see our former youth player Kevin Stewart feature though, no doubt he'll score as well!

Should be a good game, really hope we can progress without any more injuries being picked up.

COYS!