Tottenham v Liverpool: Reds look set to give depleted Spurs defense another tough night in Carabao Cup | Football news

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

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

Liverpool may have been held to a 2-2 draw against Manchester United on Sunday, but they once again produced a threatening attacking display, hitting 19 times at Anfield.

In fact, their overall Expected Goals of 2.8 means they are averaging 2.36xG per game in the Premier League this season.

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

That’s so impressive, Jurgen Klopp has only surpassed that total once in an entire season during his time in charge.

It will be intriguing to see how Arne Slot shapes his squad for this first game, but he has a whole host of attacking options to choose from.

Top striker of the season Mohamed Salah – who scored twice at Spurs in December – will no doubt be looking to play his part and add silverware in what he says is his final year at the club. He started the 6-3 league win at Spurs alongside the in-form Cody Gakpa and Luis Diaz – who also grabbed a Spurs goal.

A re-fit Diogo Jota will also compete with Darwin Nunez for involvement, while Federico Chiesa will be looking to make a late impact.

How Ange Postecoglou from Spurs would love to have such a selection headache.

His team’s absentee list is around double digits, but there is cause for concern in defense ahead of this important cup tie.

They were down to the bare bones when Liverpool last came to town and the situation has gotten worse, not better, since then.

Their 2-1 defeat by Newcastle on Saturday reflects their current struggles at the back.

Back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster was injured by the error, which also affected centre-backs Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin, who was forced off at half-time. Regular left-back Destiny Udogie is still out with 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, with Ben Davies still unavailable.

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

It’s the fifth time the Spurs have allowed an opposing side to cross the 2xG mark this season. Each case has occurred in the past nine injury games.

Indeed, only bottom side Southampton have amassed more xG against in the Premier League since November.

Goals conceded, shots taken and xG against Spurs have all been there over the past few months as they struggle with the deficit.

The hope will be that Fraser, Dragusin and Gray will shake off the illness that forced them into that match. In midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur will return from suspension. But another heavy defeat to 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 at the other end.

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

Slott mentioned how United’s transition game hurt his side at Anfield – just as Nottingham Forest and Fulham did there.

While Spurs won’t be sitting on their hands in the same way those clubs did away on Merseyside, Postecoglou’s men rank third in the Premier League in direct attacks and fourth in direct acceleration up the pitch. It’s that quick switch from back to forward that is Postecoglou’s way – and it’s proved to trouble 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 break through Liverpool on the counter, given their injury problems.

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