N17 Live presenter Ben Haines and Club commentator Rob Daly are back as we look ahead to a what is always a Premier League cracker when Liverpool come to town on Sunday (4.30pm).
Join the chaps with some very special guests on N17 Live exclusively on SPURSPLAY from 3.25pm on Sunday...
Ben Haines
"Let's start at Marseille - what a performance. And it felt like before the game there were a few questions that kept coming up everywhere you looked - particularly after the Lisbon game. Does this squad have the character to get a result on the road? Does this squad have the resilience to turn things around when it’s not going their way? Do they have the know how and experience to manage an extremely difficult atmosphere? Those questions were definitively put to bed. What an incredible thing to experience at this point in the season. Right before the World Cup break - something that unifying and impressive in such difficult circumstances can’t be understated. I don’t want to pick out individuals on this one because it really was a special second half but a word on Cristian Stellini - brilliantly played in the dugout considering the pressure on that game! So, Liverpool next... anyone who thinks, 'this is a good time to play Liverpool' has completely forgotten firstly what this Liverpool side is capable of and probably didn’t watch how they performed against City. We’ve faced Liverpool when they’ve been at their very best and when they’ve been in tough moments and whatever happens with the exception of that incredible 4-1 afternoon at Wembley it's always an incredibly tough game. Both sides are missing key players although Nunez, Salah and Firmino is still a very formidable front line for us to contend with. The thing we do need to take advantage of is creating overloads in wide areas. Spurs playing with three at the back will mean at times we’ll be sitting in deep but could really take advantage of just how high Robertson and Alexander-Arnold tend to play. Injuries are a part of football, and it’s the same for every team of course but you can’t help feeling like we’ve been unlucky over the last few weeks. It’s amazing to see Deki and Richy back training because they provide the squad with angles of attack that are unique. We’ll miss Sonny and Cuti lots over the next games as we build up to the World Cup but now, as a result of that, our players looking to affect the game from the bench will be incredibly important. With the League Cup game against Forest just around the corner, players like Bryan Gil, Ollie Skipp and Yves Bissouma, who have all been pushing hard recently, could have a massive impact in the final three matches before Qatar."
Rob Daly
"I've watched the second half of Marseille back again. We all know what happened in the first half, Harry Kane said strong words were said at half-time, and the second half was a very good performance. It was quite difficult to pick that in all the drama, but Spurs played very well in that second half. Rodrigo Bentancur was unbelievable and key again. What an impressive fight back. Bentancur and Hojbjerg outstanding, Perisic's delivery... and winning the group in that way, what a bonus! I think when you play Liverpool, you have to expect to play the best version of Liverpool. Yes, they've lost games you'd expect them to win, like Leeds and Forest recently, but they've also beaten City, the only team to do so, and the only team in Europe to beat Napoli, scored seven against Rangers. Who knows though? They've already lost four league games having only lost two last season. I suspect it is the lingering effects of the way they lost out on the Premier League and Champions League last season. They are performing in big games. Their form on the road hasn't been great, either. They went back to 3-4-3 against Napoli, played pretty well first half, Nunez caused chaos, scored a goal, made another. They've options up front even though Jota and Dias are injured. Salah is back in form and scoring goals, and Firmino has a pretty good record against Spurs. I'm sure Antonio Conte is delighted that Dejan Kulusevski had half a training session on Friday, and I'm sure he's asking if Deki and Lucas Moura, playing through the pain barrier, can give him any minutes. I agree with Ben, I'm sure there will be rotation against Forest in the League Cup on Wednesday night, I'm sure Forest will rotate as well. Will it be 3-5-2 with Sonny out? Does Dier stay right of the three with Cuti Romero out? Plenty of questions for Antonio to ponder as we build up to Sunday."