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2024/25 English Premier League
Matchday 17
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
London, England
Sunday, 22 December 2024
Kick-off is at 18h30
Liverpool will target a return to winning ways in the
Premier League when they take on Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, December 22 in the late kick-off.
Cracks have begun to appear in the Reds' armor after they dropped points in each of their last two outings against Newcastle and Fulham, who held the league leaders to 3-3 and 2-2 draws respectively.
Arne Slot's side have allowed Chelsea to close within two points of them in second place after beating Brentford 2-1 in a West London derby on December 15, although the Blues have played one game more.
Arsenal also failed to take advantage of the Merseysiders' most recent slip against the Cottagers after playing out to a goalless draw with Everton on December 14 to remain six points off the summit in third position.
Spurs' spirits will be soaring after they scored five first-half goals to crush basement dwellers Southampton 5-0 at St Mary's on December 15 which cost Russell Martin his job.
Ange Postecoglou's side halted a three-match winless run in the process as they entered the top half of the table to climb above the Bees (11th) and the Magpies (12th) on goal difference.
The rout on the south coast was the North Londoners' biggest win of the season and they are the second-highest scorers in the league behind Chelsea (37) with 36 goals.
Image Source: Alamy Stock Photo
The hosts still have a lengthy injury list which continues to rob them of Guglielmo Vicario (ankle), Richarlison, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven (all thigh), while Rodrigo Bentancur remains suspended.
The visitors will be boosted by the return of Andrew Robertson and Alexis Mac Allister from suspension, with Konstantinos Tsimikas (ankle), Conor Bradley (thigh) and Ibrahima Konate (knee) also in line to make their comebacks.
Postecoglou was full of praise for his players after they put on an energetic performance against the Saints despite having featured in the Europa League at Rangers just three days prior.
"Really proud of the players. Obviously we had a tough away European fixture on Thursday night [at Rangers]. We had 10 first-team players unavailable for a number of reasons today, so out of a squad of 25 you do the sums," he said.
"We asked a lot of them to again go out there and dig into their wells of energy and a couple we put out there haven't played for ages so the fact that boys can play with such energy and quality is just outstanding and really pleased that they get the rewards for it because they deserve it."
Slot hailed the character of his players as they twice came from behind to earn a share of the spoils against the Fulham, having played almost the entire game with just 10 men following the dismissal of Andy Robertson on 17 minutes.
"It's exactly the opposite of the Girona game, where I was pleased with the result but not the performance. I'm very, very happy with the performance, couldn't ask for more," the Dutchman declared.
"If you drop points at home to Fulham that isn't what you expect or want. Being two times a goal down, and so many things go against us, except for one thing, our players and our fans were outstanding.
"The team showed character, and that is what Robbo [Andy Robertson] showed. Nothing to blame on him, character to him to continue after quite a hard knock on his knee with two studs [by Issa Diop].
"I felt, 'ok, let's see how this continues', and I think it was quite fast afterwards where he concedes the red. Unfortunately it led to a red card that was a deserved red card."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Tottenham wins - 1
Liverpool wins - 3
Draws - 1
Premier League Matchday 17 fixtures:
Saturday, December 21
14h30: Aston Villa v Manchester City
17h00: Brentford v Nottingham Forest
17h00: Ipswich Town v Newcastle United
17h00: West Ham United v Brighton & Hove Albion
19h30: Crystal Palace v Arsenal
Sunday, December 22
16h00: Everton v Chelsea
16h00: Fulham v Southampton
16h00: Leicester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
16h00: Manchester United v Bournemouth
18h30: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool
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