Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool - prediction, team news, lineups

A rejuvenated Liverpool and a regressing Tottenham Hotspur side collide in Saturday evening's Premier League main event at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The reigning champions endeavour to extend their unbeaten run to a pleasing six games in all competitions, whereas the Lilywhites risk a record-setting home defeat in their final pre-Christmas fixture.

Match preview

Just when Tottenham appeared to have turned a corner under Thomas Frank, who had overseen a sterling comeback draw with Newcastle United before dominant home wins over Brentford and Slavia Prague, catastrophe struck at the City Ground.

Nottingham Forest duo Ibrahim Sangare and Callum Hudson-Odoi toyed with the entire Spurs XI - claiming a wonderful three goals and three assists between them - in a 3-0 trouncing of the Europa League winners, who have now lost three of their last five Premier League games.

As the hosts languish in the bottom half of the Premier League table - six points off Chelsea in the fourth and final Champions League spot - speculation over Frank's future has inevitably been heating up, but he is believed to retain the board's backing for the time being.

Nevertheless, there are understood to be some internal concerns about the Dane, who could be part of unwanted Spurs history this weekend; if the North London outfit lose, they would have suffered 11 Premier League home defeats in 2025, their most ever in a single calendar year.

The Lilywhites have somewhat re-fortified the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium of late, winning three and losing just one of their last five on familiar territory, but that will give little comfort to the home faithful after last weekend's horror show.

A horror show may be the perfect way to describe Liverpool's off-field occurrences over the past couple of weeks, but all was temporarily forgiven against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend, when the reinstated Mohamed Salah wrote another chapter of history.

The 33-year-old may still be out of favour as far as the starting XI goes, but by coming off the bench to assist Hugo Ekitike's second goal in that 2-0 victory, Salah set a new record for the most Premier League goal contributions for a single club with an astronomical 277.

Now that Salah is seeking to steer Egypt to Africa Cup of Nations glory, the Reds may be grateful for recent experiences playing without the Golden Boot winner, especially as they have not lost any of their five games since his demotion from the starting lineup.

The seventh-placed Reds could now crash the top four if results go their way this weekend, although when it comes to ever-present Premier League teams, only Bournemouth (16) have conceded at least two goals in more away games than Liverpool (15) since the start of last season.

Arne Slot's side defied their recent road travails in their 1-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan, though, and the visitors have won both of their last two games against the hosts by a stunning aggregate score of 9-1, including that title-clinching 5-1 success on April 27, 2025.

Tottenham Hotspur Premier League form:

Tottenham Hotspur form (all competitions):

Liverpool Premier League form:

Liverpool form (all competitions):

Team News

Tottenham's midfield ranks have been thinned by Africa Cup of Nations call-ups, as Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma are representing Senegal and Mali respectively, but the latter was already out of contention through injury and disciplinary action.

On the fitness front, Dominic Solanke (ankle), Dejan Kulusevski (knee), Destiny Udogie (thigh) and James Maddison (ACL) are no closer to comebacks, although Radu Dragusin (fitness) and Kota Takai (thigh) have been involved in training-ground friendlies and are surely not too far away.

The juvenile Archie Gray was partly at fault for Forest's opening goal last weekend, but Rodrigo Bentancur did not cover himself in glory either, so both Joao Palhinha and Lucas Bergvall may be in line for starts against the holders.

As previously mentioned, the headline-making Salah has now departed on his own AFCON mission, which would not be too big of an issue for Slot had his replacement - Dominik Szoboszlai - not come off with an ankle injury against Brighton.

The Hungarian - who "didn't look great" after the game according to Slot - was one of two casualties for the Reds last weekend alongside the unfortunate Joe Gomez (muscle), although Conor Bradley is back from a ban and can deputise for the Englishman.

Jeremie Frimpong may also be in with a chance of returning from a thigh concern, but Wataru Endo (ankle), Cody Gakpo (muscle) and Giovanni Leoni (ACL) are guaranteed absentees.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:

Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Palhinha, Bergvall; Kudus, Simons, Kolo Muani; Richarlison

Liverpool possible starting lineup:

Alisson; Bradley, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Chiesa, Jones, Wirtz; Ekitike

We say: Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Liverpool

No other Premier League fixture has seen as many goals as Tottenham vs. Liverpool (206), and nine of those came at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season, but a more low-key affair is surely in order this weekend.

Both sides have enjoyed the rare luxury of a weekend off, but Szoboszlai's possible absence will deprive Liverpool of their most influential player so far this season, as well as the resurrected Salah.

However, Spurs' build-up problems and disjointed defence are difficult to overlook, so we still have faith in the injury-hit champions to continue on an upward trajectory and potentially hammer another nail into Frank's coffin.

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