TWO heavyweight clashes in the League Cup this week, Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) previews Liverpool-Tottenham for us.
Liverpool v Tottenham | Tuesday 19:45 | Sky Sports 1
It’s third against fifth in the Premier League on Tuesday night as Liverpool and Tottenham meet in the League Cup last 16. It’s a competition that I find off-putting as a punter with the uncertainty over team selections so stakes will be low here.
It was a great weekend for Liverpool with title rivals Manchester City, Arsenal and Spurs all drawing and surrendering two points in the title race.
Their 2-1 win at Anfield over West Brom on Saturday was dominating and comfortable but still showed their fallibility and defensive vulnerability. In nine Premier League matches this season they’ve conceded in eight of them. Not good enough.
Spurs have had issues at the other end of the pitch in the last week. They drew 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen last Tuesday and then failed to get past Bournemouth on Saturday in another stalemate. Harry Kane’s absence is starting to bite.
When two Premier League sides face each other in this competition it’s always good to check just how serious they’ll take it. Both these sides have reached the final in the last two years (Spurs 2015 and Liverpool 2016) so in a sense that’s one box ticked.
It feels a bit different for Spurs this season though. For the first time in six seasons they’re involved in the Champions League and face another match with Leverkusen next midweek.
When the going got tough last season they virtually surrendered the Europa League and you’d have to imagine this competition will be low down their priority list.
For Liverpool, they have ample time to attack the cup competitions with no European football to worry about during the midweeks and they shone brightly in those scenarios last season.
This is not a match I’ll be having a large bet on, In fact it’s the kind of match I hate trying to predict. An interest in Liverpool to win and both teams to score looks a fair shout at 40/17 with 188BET.
As it’s only the League Cup you can imagine both sides playing with the handbrake off a little and things being more free-flowing. Liverpool are defensively vulnerable but deep down I think they’ll play a stronger side and want this a bit more.
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Liverpool v Tottenham – Liverpool to win and both teams to score (40/17 188BET)
