Jürgen Klopp will want to end his Liverpool reign on a high after two Premier League games without a win. We look ahead to Sunday’s clash at Anfield with our Liverpool vs Tottenham prediction and preview.
Liverpool vs Tottenham Stats: The Quick Hits
- The Opta supercomputer expects a Liverpool victory here, with the hosts triumphing against Tottenham in 55.6% of pre-match simulations.
- Tottenham have won just one of their last 29 away matches against Liverpool in the Premier League.
- Spurs’ Son Heung-min has scored in each of his last four league appearances against the Reds.
Match Preview
April was a month to forget for both Liverpool and Tottenham, as the struggling pair look to respond in Sunday’s Premier League meeting at Anfield.
Liverpool were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Atalanta last month, while their Premier League title push has also all but evaporated. A 2-0 loss to Merseyside rivals Everton at Goodison Park preceded last Saturday’s 2-2 draw away against West Ham.
Michail Antonio scored a late equaliser after Liverpool had gone ahead through an Alphonse Areola own goal and Andy Roberton’s 48th-minute strike. That draw at London Stadium not only hampered Liverpool’s hopes of top-flight glory but caught the headlines after a disagreement between star forward Mohamed Salah and Jürgen Klopp as the substitute prepared to come on.
Klopp has since insisted the issue has been “completely” resolved and marks “no problem”, though that argument only highlighted the growing frustration among the Liverpool camp. Klopp’s third-placed side are five points behind leaders Arsenal in the league table heading into the weekend and four behind Manchester City, who still have a game in hand.
Klopp has been a regular critic of the Premier League’s scheduling – particularly the doomed Saturday 12:30pm kick-off slot – though this will be Liverpool’s 18th Sunday game of the top-flight season, mostly thanks to their involvement in the Europa League. Only once have Liverpool played more such matches in a single campaign in 2012-13 (20).
Liverpool have won nine of their 17 Sunday matches so far this term (D6 L2), only winning more in 2013-14 (11/15) and 2018-19 (10/13). The German will hope that is a positive sign when facing Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, who has already beaten him once this term. Spurs won 2-1 at home against nine-man Liverpool in September, who saw a first-half goal from Luis Díaz incorrectly disallowed for offside after a miscommunication between the referee and the video assistant referee.
The only manager to win consecutive Premier League games against Klopp is Brendan Rodgers with Leicester City in 2021. The last to beat him in his first two top-flight meetings was Louis van Gaal in 2009-10 with Bayern Munich when he was Borussia Dortmund manager.
Postecoglou may look to Son Heung-min for inspiration as his out-of-form side hope to battle back. The South Korean has scored in each of his last four Premier League appearances against Liverpool, putting Spurs 1-0 up in the reverse fixture in September. The only player to score in five consecutive games in the competition against the Reds is Jamie Vardy (between 2016 and 2017).
Yet Sunday may prove a tough ask for Tottenham, who have lost each of their last three Premier League games – against Newcastle United, Arsenal and Chelsea – conceding nine goals in the process.
Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson were on target in Thursday’s 2-0 victory for the Blues at Stamford Bridge as Spurs’ defensive frailties once again proved their downfall. In the first half of that disappointing defeat, Postecoglou appeared to berate both Cristian Romero and Pape Sarr, though the Australian insisted post-match that he must shoulder the responsibility.
That touchline rant may come as no surprise as pressure continues to intensify on Postecoglou and Spurs, who are seven points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa. Though Tottenham still have a game in hand, UEFA Champions League qualification is completely out of their control, with fifth place not enough to secure a place this term.
Postecoglou’s plight has not been aided by injuries either, with Ben Davies, Manor Solomon, Timo Werner, Ryan Sessegnon, Fraser Forster and Destiny Udogie all out.
As for the hosts, Virgil van Dijk will face a late fitness test to feature for Liverpool at Anfield. The potential absence of the centre-back and captain will be a concern as Liverpool have kept just one clean sheet in their last 14 Premier League matches, including none in their last eight since beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 in March.
Liverpool last went longer without a shutout within a single season in the league from October to December 2004 (9), but will at least be boosted by the return of Conor Bradley to training this week. Sunday’s kick-off will come too soon for Diogo Jota, though, with Thiago Alcântara and Joël Matip the other longer-term absentees.
Liverpool vs Tottenham Head-to-Head
Another defeat could be on the cards for Spurs here given Liverpool have lost just one of their last 29 home Premier League matches against Tottenham (W19 D9) – a 2-0 defeat in May 2011.
Yet after Matip provided a last-gasp own goal for Tottenham’s 2-1 win in September, Spurs are looking to complete their first league double over Liverpool since the 2010-11 season.
Those back-to-back victories 13 years ago came against two different Liverpool managers (Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish), while their last league double over the Reds when beating the same manager twice was in Dalglish’s first spell in 1986-87.
Expect late drama in this one, too. Liverpool (3) vs Tottenham (3) has provided six 90th-minute winners in the Premier League, the most of any fixture in the competition’s history. Indeed, their last two league encounters have been won courtesy of a 90th-minute winner for the home team.
Recent Form
Klopp’s departure looks set for an underwhelming end as Liverpool have lost their last two home games in all competitions, as many as in their previous 57 combined.
The Reds have failed to score in both defeats – against Crystal Palace and Atalanta – but have not lost three in a row without reply at Anfield since March 2021. That downturn in form could cause frustration if Liverpool start slowly again on Sunday.
Liverpool have conceded the opening goal in 16 Premier League games this season; not since 2004-05 under Rafael Benítez (20) have they done so more in a single campaign. Indeed, they have conceded the opener in four of their last five matches at Anfield in the competition – as many as their previous 22 beforehand.
Tottenham, meanwhile, haven’t lost any of their last six away Premier League games on a Sunday (W2 D4), though their last such defeat came at Anfield against Liverpool in April 2023.
Four of their five such games this term have been draws, but they did win their last one at Aston Villa in March (4-0).
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system that assigns an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
Liverpool vs Tottenham Predicted Lineups
Liverpool vs Tottenham Prediction
The Opta supercomputer predicts Liverpool as favourites for this one, with the hosts triumphing in 55.6% of 10,000 pre-match simulations, compared to a Spurs success in just 19.8%.
A draw may be the best hope to end a three-game losing run for Postecoglou, whose side managed that result in 24.6% of data-led sims.
Liverpool are out of the Premier League title race with a 0% chance of lifting the trophy in Opta’s end-of-season predictions, finishing third in 97.3% of sims.
Spurs, meanwhile, are expected to stay fifth (88.6%) with just a slim 5.4% chance of catching Villa in fourth.
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