Dele Alli is set to return to the starting line-up after recovering from his illness while Hugo Lloris is yet to recover from his injury.
Mauricio Pochettino has relatively less number of injury concerns as opposed to his Liverpool counterpart, with Hugo Lloris’ injury remaining the only major worry for the Argentine. Speaking to the official Tottenham Hotspur website, the boss confirmed,”Mousa Dembele is still suspended, Hugo Lloris (hamstring) is going well but he’s still out.”
In the absence of the French international, Michel Vorm is set to continue in goal as the former is expected to return for Spurs’ clash against Stoke City after the international break. Dele Alli, who recovered from the illness that restricted his participation against Crystal Palace to a few minutes as a substitute, is expected to make the starting lineup against Liverpool.
Moussa Dembele is serving the fifth match of his six-match ban and is hence out of contention. The Belgian was handed a six-match ban after getting involved in a violent altercation with Diego Costa during what turned out to be title-deciding clash between Tottenham and Chelsea last season.
Apart from the aforementioned absentees, the North-Londoners have no fitness issues. While there is some clarity as to who will take roles at the back and in the defensive midfield positions, who’ll take their places up front in the attacking midfield positions and in strike is debatable. The absence of Alli meant Kane would play as Centre-attacking midfielder behind new signing Vincent Janssen, with Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen taking their spots on the flanks.
Janssen was impressive during his two outings so far but a front four of Alli, Eriksen, Lamela and Kane is a tried and tested formula that aided Spurs immensely last season in their title challenge. So we can expect Pochettino to stick to that line-up, with the Dutchman coming on later as a substitute. In a match-up of identical philosophies, it’ll be interesting if Spurs can nick a result this time around after playing out a draw with the Reds in their previous two encounters.
