Tottenham vs Liverpool: Reds look set to give beleaguered Spurs defense another difficult night in Carabao Cup | Football news

Liverpool will aim to respond to their Premier League setback against Manchester United with a resounding performance and win when they travel to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup first leg on Wednesday – with memories of last month’s big win still fresh in their minds.

The stats suggest the Reds will cause serious problems for Spurs’ depleted backline – just as they did when they scored six goals in north London in December.

Liverpool may have been held to a 2-2 draw by Manchester United on Sunday, but they again produced a menacing attacking display with 19 shots at Anfield.

In fact, their projected goals total of 2.8 means they average 2.36xG per game. match in the Premier League this season.

That is by far the most of any side in the division.

It’s so impressive that Jurgen Klopp only topped the total once in an entire season during his time in charge.

It will be interesting to see how Arne Slot shapes his team for this first game, but he has his full range of attacking options to choose from.

Top striker of the season Mohamed Salah – who struck twice at Spurs in December – will no doubt be gearing up to play his part and add silverware in what he says looks set to be his final year at the club. He started the 6-3 league win at Spurs alongside in-form Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz – who also got a brace at Spurs.

Wednesday 8 January at 19:00

Kick off at 20:00

A fit-again Diogo Jota will vie with Darwin Nunez for involvement, while Federico Chiesa will be keen to make a late impact.

How Spurs’ Ange Postecoglou would love to have that kind of selection headache.

His side’s list of absentees is around double that, but it is in defense where there is cause for concern ahead of this important cup tie.

They were rock bottom when Liverpool last came to town and the situation has worsened rather than eased since then.

Their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle on Saturday reflected their struggles at the back right now.

Stand-in goalkeeper Fraser Forster was laid low by a foul which also hit centre-backs Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin, who were forced off at half-time. Regular left-back Destiny Udogie is still out with an injury and his replacement Djed Spence later had to fill in at centre-back.

First-choice centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven remain sidelined and Ben Davies remains unavailable.

Newcastle took advantage. They scored twice from an xG total of 2.45.

It’s the fifth time the Spurs have allowed an opponent to pass the 2xG mark this season. All cases have come in the last nine games with injuries.

In fact, only Southampton, who are at the bottom, have had more xG mods in the Premier League since November.

Goals conceded, shots and xG courage are all up for Spurs over the last few months as they struggle with their lack.

The hope will be that Fraser, Dragusin and Gray shake off the sickness that dogged them in that game. In midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur will be back from suspension. But another chastening defeat at the hands of a hungry Liverpool attack will be the fear of Spurs fans heading to the stadium on Wednesday night.

How Tottenham could hurt Liverpool…

And yet there may be hope on the other end.

Spurs scored three past Liverpool during the chaos of that pre-Christmas clash, although Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke’s goals came late after James Maddison’s first-half strike.

Slot referred to how United’s transition play hurt his side at Anfield – just as Nottingham Forest and Fulham had done there.

While Spurs won’t sit back in the same way those clubs did in their away days on Merseyside, Postecoglou’s men are third in the Premier League for direct attack and fourth for direct acceleration down the pitch. It is the rapid transition from back to front that is the Postecoglou way – and it has proved to unsettle Liverpool’s backline this term.

Spurs do not play as many long balls per game as Fulham (49), United (49) and Forest (50), averaging just 32 this season. So the question will be whether they can combine the necessary physicality and passing accuracy to cut through Liverpool on the counter, given their injury problems.

Tottenham supporters will surely be hoping that for the second time in a week, an opposing team can pull off an unexpected result against Slott’s Liverpool side.