Tottenham's long-awaited hunt for a trophy continues later today when Spurs take on Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.
After a thrilling 4-3 win over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, Liverpool were arguably the last team that Spurs wanted to draw for the semi-finals, and that was proven just days later when the Reds beat Ange Postecoglou's side 6-3 in the Premier League. Since the defeat to Liverpool, the Lilywhites have failed to win a game, but Spurs will be looking to avoid a fifth game without a win and get off to a perfect start in the Carabao Cup semis when they welcome the Reds to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
With an FA Cup clash against National League side Tamworth on the weekend, Postecoglou is expected to go as strong as possible later today, though James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr are suspended. Brandon Austin made his debut for Spurs against Newcastle on the weekend, and he may start again here, despite the signing of goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.
So can Spurs win the home leg before making the trip to Anfield next month? Let's take a look...
We simulated Tottenham vs Liverpool to get a score prediction
To complete this simulation, we used EA FC 25 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that Tottenham could line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their starting XI as follows: Austin; Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence; Bissouma, Bentancur, Kulusevski; Johnson, Solanke, Son.
We predict that Liverpool could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Endo, Mac Allister, Elliott; Salah, Nunez, Diaz.
Like the meeting between the two sides at the end of December, Spurs couldn't cope with Liverpool's attacking threat. The Reds were in full control in north London, with a poor first-half performance from Postecoglou's side sending them into half-time 3-0 down.
A misplaced pass from Radu Dragusin played the ball to Mohamed Salah on the edge of the box, and the Egyptian picked out Luis Diaz in the middle who fired home after just nine minutes. Four minutes later, Salah scored a penalty after Austin brought down Darwin Nunez in the box, and just before the break, the Reds hit Spurs on the counter attack, with Harvey Elliott finishing off the move to make it 3-0.
With such a dominant lead, Liverpool took their foot off the gas in the second half, but they got a bit complacent, allowing Spurs to get on the ball and create chances of their own. A 10-minute spell saw the Lilywhites control every aspect of the game, and they made the most of their possession by pulling a goal back with 28 minutes to go.
As Spurs camped around the Liverpool box, Dejan Kulusevski picked out the run of Brennan Johnson with a wonderful through ball, with the winger getting the wrong side of Kostas Tsimikas. Under pressure from Virgil van Dijk, the Welshman's effort was too powerful for the 'keeper, firing his shot in at the near post to get Spurs on the scoresheet.
After conceding, Liverpool put in a much more controlled performance to see out the 3-1 victory, giving Spurs an incredibly tough task at Anfield in the second leg next month.