Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson believes Tottenham will “spring a shock” at Anfield this weekend and leave Merseyside with a point.
Liverpool are unbeaten in the Premier League this season having won their first eight games before last weekend’s draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford, while Spurs are thirteen points behind the league leaders.
But with Manchester City moving within six points of Liverpool last weekend, the pressure is building on Jurgen Klopp’s side ahead of Sunday’s game. What’s more, Tottenham looked something close to their best in midweek, beating Red Star 5-0 in the Champions League.
In his weekly BBC Sport predictions column, Lawrenson noted that Spurs have played well against Liverpool in recent meetings at Anfield, suggesting they were particularly unlucky in last season’s 2-1 defeat.
And the former Reds defender thinks Mauricio Pochettino’s men will manage a 1-1 draw on Sunday despite their recent poor form.
“I am at Anfield for this game and think it is a tricky fixture for Liverpool to negotiate,”
Lawrenson said.
“In the past few seasons, while Mauricio Pochettino has been in charge of Tottenham, the Reds always know they are going to get a game against Spurs.
“Their last visit here, when Tottenham only lost to a late Toby Alderweireld own-goal, was an example of that. Spurs had been the better team in the second half.
“Nobody is expecting that to be the case this time, after the way Tottenham have played in the past few weeks, but I still think they have got it in them to spring a shock.
“They have got some really potent attacking players and it would not surprise me if they are close to their best again in this game after a series of disappointing results.
“At the same time, I am a little bit worried that if Liverpool are below their best again, like they were against Manchester United when they did not quite get the different areas of their team right, then they might slip up.”
Pochettino will need to get his tactics right, particularly in defence. Liverpool’s front three have the potential to wreak havoc if Tottenham don’t deal with them properly.
We think Pochettino will revert to a back three this weekend – check out our full predicted XI here.