Liverpool will clash heads with Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday night hoping to return to winning ways at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Reds are in dire need to secure all three points as they cannot afford to lose any more ground in the Premier League title race having lost three of their past five matches in various competitions.
Jurgen Klopp will be sweating on the fitness of Jordan Henderson, who is a major doubt for his game but Joel Matip should be back and is expected to play alongside Fabinho in central defence. The Merseyside outfit has to figure out a way to stop giving away poor goals at the back and start focussing on creating more clear-cut chances in the final third. However, it will be easier said than done against a Spurs team that has banged in 18 goals in their past six matches across all competitions.
Here are three tactical changes Klopp should make to ensure that his players can secure a positive result at the English capital versus Jose Mourinho’s men in midweek.
Reinstate Mane Back To His Starting XI
Klopp would be wise to go with his strongest frontline in this game, so Sadio Mane should come back into the starting XI after he was rested in the 3-2 defeat versus Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup last weekend.
If the Senegalese speedster is on his game, then he could very well end up influencing the outcome of this match. Plus, his powerful running and link up play with Andrew Robertson down the left flank will help the Reds push the opposition back inside their half.
Opt To Play Curtis Jones As A Free-Flowing Midfielder If Henderson Misses Out
If Jordan Henderson can make himself available for this game, then the Liverpool captain will be an automatic starter alongside Georginio Wijnaldum and Thiago Alcantara in midfield. Just in case the English playmaker fails to recover in time, then Klopp should consider playing Curtis Jones as a free-flowing, box to box midfielder because the youngster could potentially make some late runs into the Tottenham penalty area and cause a few problems for them with his shooting from long range.
Drop Trent Alexander-Arnold And Play Neco Williams At Right-Back
The form of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold has been poor, to say the least in recent months. The Reds head coach should think about dropping the 22-year-old to the bench in the hopes of getting a positive response from him in the coming weeks. Plus, Alexander-Arnold can be defensively vulnerable while up against the pacey Heung-min Son, who seems to have developed a telepathic understanding with Harry Kane up top.
Neco Williams could be a decent alternative for the right-back spot as he is full of energy and will make life difficult for Son out on the wide areas. However, he is still quite inexperienced and has already made a few errors on the defensive end of the field this season. Even then, he should get a start just so that Klopp can keep his team fresh for this upcoming encounter versus Spurs away at North London.
