Preview Panel - Liverpool

Legendary former defender Michael Dawson and Neil Jones, who knows Liverpool inside-out via his work at Goal.com, look ahead to our Premier League clash against Jurgen Klopp's men at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening (8pm).

Introducing the panel

Michael Dawson - 'Daws' joined us from Nottingham Forest in January, 2005 and went on to play 324 times for us until departing for Hull in 2014. In that time, he helped us back into the Champions League in 2010 and proudly captained the team on that famous night when we beat AC Milan in the San Siro. Michael spent four years at Hull before returning to first club Forest in 2018. He's still going strong having just turned 37. He made his debut at Anfield in April, 2005 and helped us beat the Reds six times on the trot at home, 2008-2012.

Neil Jones - Neil is Liverpool FC Correspondent for Goal.com. @neiljonesgoal

Michael Dawson

“I’m looking forward to this one. Look, when Spurs went to Anfield six weeks ago, Liverpool started well but Spurs got back to 1-1 straight away and created chances in the second half. At 1-1, I thought there was only going to be one winner, but then the sucker punch of conceding a goal from a set-piece in the last minute. I wondered how Liverpool would deal with losing Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, but they’ve done well. It just seems they’re not firing at the other end. Teams go through spells like that. Their front three of Firmino, Mane and Salah have been magnificent for what, three years now? They’ve had a slight dip and results haven’t been where they want them to be, but that’s football, and they will want to put it right. Defensively, you know you have to be very good, strong, just look at the forward players they’ve had over the years, not least now! But Liverpool will be saying exactly the same about Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son. They are a joy to watch, they really are. It’s all set up for a fascinating match!”

Neil Jones

"I think it will be a tight game. If you look at Liverpool’s results this season, the better results have come against the better sides, including Spurs at Anfield in December. The defeats have come against Villa, Southampton and Burnley. They’ve been to Chelsea and won, drawn against City and United, beaten Leicester, Wolves, so there is something to say about Liverpool maybe raising their game and finding it easier to play against what you would call the bigger clubs. I think they’ll find it tough at Spurs, I really do. You could certainly make a case that Spurs were unlucky to lose at Anfield, they had a lot of good chances. Spurs will be motivated for this, it’s a chance for them against a Liverpool team that has lost a bit of ground in the Premier League. A lot will depend on how Liverpool stand up defensively, and the inclusion of Joel Matip would make a big difference. Rhys Williams played at Anfield, and had a decent game, but it wouldn’t be ideal facing Kane and Son at Tottenham. That could be the crux of it, Kane and Son against whoever plays in central defence for Liverpool and if that’s Matip and Fabinho, that might make it a little tighter. If you asked me for a prediction, I think Liverpool will be pretty happy to get out of there with a draw. It will take a big effort for them to win there at the moment. I don’t see it being Liverpool answering their critics with a free-wheeling performance and scoring two or three goals, I think it will be a relatively low-scoring affair if they are going to get a result. It will be all about what they do at the other end in terms of keeping the big two out."