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Tottenham Hotspur have a host of injury problems ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash with Liverpool
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Liverpool are two games from a return to Wembley as they face Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. The Reds travel to North London on Wednesday for the first leg of their last four clash with Spurs, before heading back to Anfield for the return leg at the start of February.
Arne Slot’s side have already won at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season after a 6-3 victory before Christmas. Liverpool had led 5-1 before the hosts made things slightly nervy by reducing the deficit to 5-3 before a Luis Diaz goal soon settled visiting nerves. Liverpool will be hoping for a more straight-forward contest on Wednesday and do hold an advantage going into the game due to a number of absences for the home side.
Ahead of the game, manager Slot said: “I think what we expect before we go into the game is that two teams have such a clear identity and playing style, that is I think what most people expect to see tomorrow again as well. They have their identity, we have our own identity, and both teams trying to force that identity towards the other. Large parts of the away game two weeks ago, we could show our identity. But there were definitely also parts in the game where they showed how good of a team they are. Scoring three goals against us is also an accomplishment. I know we scored six in the game as well but scoring three against us, not many teams have done [that] until now.”
Spurs selection woes
The home side have a host of injury concerns with Guglielmo Vicario, Ben Davies, Cristian Romero, Destiny Udogie, Micky van de Ven, Richarlison and Wilson Odobert all set to miss the game on Wednesday. However, an update from the North London club on Tuesday also highlighted that James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr are ruled out through suspension.
A club statement read: “The midfield duo have picked up two yellow cards each in our run to the semi-finals meaning they will now miss the visit of Liverpool in the first of our two last four bouts. 'Madders' picked up the first of his bookings on his return to his boyhood club Coventry City in the third round while Pape was cautioned in our home win over Manchester City in round four. The pair then were each shown a yellow card in our quarter-final win over Manchester United last month leading to both of them being suspended for Wednesday's clash with the Reds.”
Mikey Moore could return to the squad after a long lay-off while the club’s new signing Antonin Kinsky is available for selection after completing a £10m move to Spurs from Slavia Prague on Sunday.
Slot on Liverpool team news
Joe Gomez is out with a hamstring problem while Dominik Szoboszlai is unlikely to start after missing the 2-2 draw with Manchester United due to illness. Providing an update on the midfielder, the Liverpool boss said on Tuesday: “Yesterday he wasn't in yet. If he's in today, I would doubt if he's available to start the game. But hopefully he's in today. Yesterday he wasn't.
On possible rotation, he added: "I think if you look at all the fixtures we've had this season, there are so many things going into a line-up – short term, long term, qualities of the opponent, where are my players [at]? So it's going to always be a decision made about, in our opinion, the best line-up for tomorrow. In some situations, for Southampton away or other games, in my opinion the best line-up was the ones that didn't start a lot. Let's see what that is tomorrow for the game we play against Tottenham."