Alisson & Van Dijk face first big test at the scene of last season’s disasterclass – Tottenham vs Liverpool big match preview

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Tottenham vs Liverpool predicted line ups, kick off time, TV channel

When? Saturday 15 September, 12.30pm

Where? Wembley Stadium, London

What channel? Sky Sports Premier League

Tottenham: Vorm, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Trippier, Dier, Davies, Eriksen, Dembele, Moura, Kane

Liverpool: Alisson, Van Dijk, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Keita, Milner, Salah, Mane, Firmino

MORE: The surprise Liverpool star who’s created more big chances than Ozil & Pogba COMBINED this season

Keep an eye on…

It’s a big one for the duo that cost Liverpool a combined fee of roughly £140million – their goalkeeper Alisson and star centre-back Virgil van Dijk.

The latter has been immense since signing from Southampton in January, while the former started brightly at Anfield since his summer switch from Roma before a major cock-up in his last game.

Leading 2-0 away to Leicester City, Alisson made a major blunder when trying to play out from the back, giving the ball away in his own area and allowing the Foxes to pull one back and ensure a nervy ending.

Still, that’s the only goal he’s conceded for the Reds, and in general they look far stronger than the absolute shambles of a performance of their last visit to Wembley to face Tottenham.

Harry Kane and co. ran riot in last season’s meeting with a thumping 4-1 win, with Dejan Lovren in particular having an absolute nightmare.

Liverpool have invested heavily in ensuring results like that don’t happen again, so will hope that their big signings at the back come good for them against Spurs on Saturday – if it’s still not enough to decide games like this, you just can’t see LFC holding out to put together a proper title challenge.

Current form…

Liverpool have won four from their first four, but Tottenham’s fine start was disrupted last time out against Watford.

Remarkably, the Hornets now sit above Mauricio Pochettino’s side thanks to their 2-1 victory ensuring they continued their 100% start – the only other club to do so alongside Liverpool and Chelsea.

Still, one would expect a response from Tottenham, who were superb in their first three games of the season, particularly when they won 3-0 away to Manchester United.

Kane even managed to score a few goals in August, which presumably means he’s going to hit approximately 400% more of them in September now. Probably.

Last time they met…

It was an absolute cracker that had pretty much everything.

See the video highlights below as Liverpool took an early lead before a crazy second half turned everything on its head.

Tottenham equalised with an absolute rocket from Victor Wanyama, before Harry Kane had the chance to put them in front from the penalty spot only for Loris Karius to save (it’s for some reason not in the highlights above, so here it is below:

Liverpool then struck in stoppage time to go 2-1 up through another fine goal by Salah, only to then concede another penalty, which Kane this time put away with no mistake. 2-2.

If we have anything like this this weekend it’ll be great entertainment.

In the dugout…

Two managers who are similarly demanding of their players with intense training methods, and well-drilled players who know their roles all over the pitch.

Klopp has had considerably more to spend than Pochettino, though remarkably this Spurs side is still packed full of quality.

Pochettino won’t be too pleased, however, with the club confirming Dele Alli and Hugo Lloris will sit this match out, which could really make a difference.

Both are also similar in that, despite widely being held as doing great jobs at their respective clubs, neither has yet won a trophy for their current employers. One imagines, however, it would take a really spectacular fall for that to cause anyone above them to consider wielding the axe any time soon.

Prediction for the big game?

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Prediction…

It will be a close one, but with the way Liverpool are playing at the moment and Tottenham’s injuries, it’s hard not to back the men in Red.

Alisson and Van Dijk should give LFC what they need to keep Kane quiet, and without Alli supplying him and causing havoc in and around the penalty area, it becomes quite a different game.

We’re going for a 2-1 win for Liverpool.

More Stories Alisson Dejan Lovren Dele Alli Harry Kane Hugo Lloris Joe Gomez Jurgen Klopp Mauricio Pochettino simon mignolet Virgil van Dijk