Tottenham vs. Liverpool predicted line-ups: £145m duo return amid 11 changes and attacker absence

Both Tottenham and Liverpool will be bidding to maintain their respective unbeaten starts to the Premier League campaign when the two sides meet in north London on Saturday evening. The Reds travel to the capital second in the table and two points ahead of their hosts, who had to settle for a draw in last Sunday’s enthralling North London Derby.

For their part, Jurgen Klopp’s men beat West Ham 3-1 at Anfield in their last league outing, and followed that result up with a similarly routine 3-1 win over Leicester City in the Carabao Cup in midweek. Spurs, of course, have already bowed out of that competition, and will be hoping that their relatively light schedule serves them well over the coming weeks and months.

Focusing on the immediate future, however, both teams will aiming to deliver a telling blow to a likely top four rival this weekend, and will recognise that a win on Saturday would represent a considerable statement of intent.

Tottenham Team News

There is good news and bad news on the injury-front for Tottenham this weekend. On the one hand, James Maddison looks set to keep his place in midfield despite an awkward incident involving his knee last Sunday, but the chances of Brennan Johnson featuring are less concrete after he was also withdrawn against Arsenal.

Elsewhere, Bryan Gil, who has yet to play under Ange Postecoglou, is nearing a return to fitness, but is unlikely to be involved on Saturday, while Ryan Sessegnon and Rodrigo Bentancur are expected to be sidelined for a while longer. Ivan Perisic may not feature again this season after suffering an ACL injury in training.

Giovani Lo Celso is also a doubt, but is understood to be edging ever closer to inclusion, with the midfielder back in training having played only 16 minutes of Premier League football so far this season.

Full Predicted Tottenham XI

Guglielmo Vicario; Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, Destiny Udogie; Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma; Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Manor Solomon; Son Heung-min.

Liverpool Team News

For Liverpool, the big team news involves Trent Alexander-Arnold, who could make his return to action this weekend having been sidelined with a hamstring injury since his side’s win over Aston Villa at the start of September. The full-back has been making positive progress in his recovery, but whether or not he will be fit to start ahead of the deputising Joe Gomez remains to be seen.

The Reds’ only other injury concern is Thiago Alcantara, but the midfielder is still a little while away from being in contention for selection. Otherwise, Klopp is almost certain to make wholesale changes from his side’s midweek Carabao Cup win over Leicester City, having fielded a notably weakened team in that outing. That could mean there is a return to the starting XI for the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai, Mohamed Salah, and Darwin Nunez.

Full Liverpool Predicted XI

Alisson Becker; Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson; Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Curtis Jones; Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz.