Spiraling Tottenham Hotspur will look for a result that could reverse their fortunes on Sunday when they visit a Liverpool side fighting to stay in the European places.
Spurs (7-14-8, 29 points) have lost six in a row in all competitions and five straight in the league. And the last four have come under caretaker manager Igor Tudor, appointed on a contract only until the end of the season with the expressed purpose of making sure Tottenham avoid relegation.
Now the 16th-place North Londoners enter the weekend only a point above the line, and on the heels of an embarrassing 5-2 defeat Tuesday at Atletico Madrid in Leg 1 of their UEFA Champions League round-of-16 series.
“Like everything in life, you can choose how to see the situation,” Tudor said. “So, you can stay and cry or you can fight. You can be the victim or you can say I can change something. This is the message I want to start and what I communicated to the players.”
But Spurs still are extremely short-handed in their battle, with more than a dozen players still unavailable to injury and suspension.
Captain Cristian Romero and defensive midfielder Palhinha were added to that list after a late collision against Atletico that forced Spurs to finish with nine men, and neither will return until at least the return leg next Wednesday, Tudor said.
Liverpool (14-9-6, 48 points) also absorbed a midweek UCL Leg 1 defeat, 1-0 at Galatasaray, on Tuesday. And the Reds enter the weekend in sixth place, three points out of the four automatic places in next year’s competition.
A surprising 2-1 loss at last-place Wolves halted a three-game winning run in the league, leaving the Reds three points behind Aston Villa and Manchester United, and behind Chelsea on goal difference. But Liverpool will have chances to make up ground when they play all three of those sides over the final four weeks of the season.
In the interim, Reds manager Arne Slot said Spurs’ poor form hasn’t added to the pressure to earn a result at Anfield.
“I think if Tottenham would be No.1 in the league at the moment, every fan would expect us at home to win,” Slot said. “We’re expected to win. That has nothing to do with the form of the other team or where they are in the league or the quality they have.”
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker missed Tuesday’s clash with an unspecified ailment, but is more likely to return Sunday than not. Italian attacker Federico Chiesa is a matchday decision after also missing Tuesday’s clash with an illness.
-Field Level Media
