There is one tasty looking fixture left in this weekend’s round of Premier League fixtures as Liverpool entertain Tottenham on Monday night in a match that will go a long way to determining both clubs’ chances of attaining their respective goals.
Spurs still retain hopes of winning the Premier League title after bouncing back from the unlucky and controversial 3-2 defeat at Manchester City with a 3-1 home win over strugglers Wigan.
City of course had slipped up against Everton in midweek but pulled eight points clear of Spurs with the 3-0 win over Fulham on Saturday night.
Harry Redknapp knows that his side can ill-afford too many slip-ups but a draw may not be considered good enough when trying to claw back the deficit, even though Liverpool remain unbeaten at home.
A top-four finish was perhaps the expectation at the start of the season for the Lilywhites but, having performed so well in the league to date, barring the opening defeats against United and City, there is still enough time to land the ultimate prize in domestic football.
That used to be expected in Liverpool but their star has fallen somewhat and the Reds now face a battle to even qualify for the Champions League after making a slow start to a campaign, which began with hopes of a title tilt after a summer spending spree – added to the outlay made last January.
Inconsistency has been a problem for Dalglish’s men while a lack of goals has not helped the cause, and they could go into Monday’s fixture seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea (depending on the Blues’ result against United on Sunday).
The Reds are unbeaten at home and consequently have been installed as 11/10 favourites in the match betting, with Spurs on offer at a tempting 13/5 and the draw at 12/5 in the match betting.
Liverpool’s unbeaten home record does mask the fact that they have been held seven times at Anfield with just four wins in the 11 matches played there, scoring just 14 goals in the process.
Spurs have scored 20 on their travels and lost just three games, none of which would necessarily be considered surprising – at United, City and Stoke – while they were the last team to win at Anfield, winning 2-0 in May last season.
The north Londoners’ record is hardly great though as that win was their only one in their last 17 visits to Anfield, but this a different Spurs team and there is plenty of value about them taking something from the game.
Tottenham of course put Liverpool’s early-season pretensions into perspective with a 4-0 drubbing at White Hart Lane, and have lost only one of the last five Premier League games againstthe Reds and are looking to complete the double over them for the second consecutive season.
A lot could depend on the team news as Spurs are sweating on Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe, Emmanuel Adebayor and Rafael van der Vaart, while William Gallas and Tom Huddlestone are definitely ruled out.
Louis Saha was a deadline-day capture from Everton and could make his debut, and he is an 8/1 shot in the First/Last Goalscorer betting and 5/2 to score Anytime.
However, much of the pre-match hype is bound to surround the return of Luis Suarez (5/1 First/Last, 11/8 Anytime Goalscorer) from his lengthy ban, although whether he is thrust straight back into the team is open to question.
The Uruguayan is regarded as a key player for Liverpool but goals have been a problem this season, even for him, as he has managed just five in the top-flight this term.
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One or two surprises at the weekend saw Celtic open up a five-point gap at the top of the SPL table, while Hearts showed they were genuine title contenders and wouldn’t you know it – they have been thrown together by the fixture compiler this week. Here is a look at all five matches taking place on Wednesday…
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