Liverpool travel to Tottenham on Saturday in search of making it eight wins on the spin, with Jurgen Klopp heavily rotating to beat Leicester 3-1 in the Carabao Cup in midweek
Jurgen Klopp has rediscovered a winning formula at Liverpool and doesn’t intent to change it.
The Reds have won their last seven fixtures, spanning back to the opening weekend of the season. Wednesday saw Liverpool come from behind at Anfield to beat Leicester 3-1 in the Carabao Cup third round, booking a trip to Bournemouth at the end of next month
Klopp and co’s next focus is on beating Tottenham, who last Sunday earned a deserved 2-2 draw away to Arsenal in a thrilling North London Derby clash. New manager Ange Postecoglou has rejuvenated Spurs but his side haven’t beaten Liverpool since October 2017 during Mauricio Pochettino’s heyday.
That was before goalkeeper Alisson Becker even joined the Reds and he’s expected to return between the posts after understudy Caoimhin Kelleher was given the nod in midweek. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s fitness remains a doubt following a spell on the sidelines, so Joe Gomez is set to retain the right-back berth from last weekend’s 3-1 win at home to West Ham.
Klopp said of Alexander-Arnold during his pre-match press conference on Friday: “Trent trained yesterday normal and will train today normal, and then we have to make a decision. He will be in the squad, I’m not a doctor so cannot make that decision, but it looks like he can be in the squad tomorrow and play.”
Joining him in the back four should be Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson, hoping to register a clean sheet after Liverpool’s last four results have been all been 3-1 victories. Midfielder Curtis Jones played at right-back against Leicester, putting in an impressive shift while wearing the captain’s armband.
The Reds academy product is more likely to be back in his natural role at Tottenham, accompanied by Alexis Mac Allister and the in-form Dominik Szoboszlai. Klopp’s selection headaches lay in attack, but given the Reds’ potency against West Ham, he’s expected to stick with a front three of Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz.
There will be no Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic or young full-back Conor Bradley, as Klopp added on Friday: “Stefan had a little, little setback. The problem with Stefan is I can imagine everyone wants to see him play more – I want – but we have to be really careful. And now it’s a little, little, little tiny calf issue. That’s how it is when you are six months out.
“And we try everything to get him up to speed without pushing him. We make a very specific plan for him but in the end it’s disappointing for him, of course, but for us as well that he got another one.
“So we have to take him out a little bit. He can work on pretty much everything else but not playing. That’s it, I would say. Thiago still out, Conor still out. I think that’s it.”
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