By Kenton Jetton
Tottenham Hotspur currently sits just five points behind Leicester City for the top spot in the Premier League table. An April 2nd visit to Anfield will be a golden opportunity for Spurs to take down ninth place Liverpool and move one step closer to a Premier championship.
The two clubs last met early in the season, playing to a 0-0 draw. Since that time, Tottenham may have proven to be the better of the two squads. They have amassed a staggering goal differential of plus 32, which is by far the best in the league. The next closest club is Leicester City. The first place club has a differential of plus 23, which puts Tottenham ahead of them in efficiency.
Liverpool’s goal differential on the other hand sits at just plus five. While midfielders Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino prove to be capable scorers, a suspect Liverpool defense has given up 40 goals thus far. In comparison, Spurs have given up just 24 goals all season behind top notch performances from captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Lloris boasts 11 clean sheets and 70 saves, as well as only allowing 24 goals all season.
The combination of Lloris’ spectacular goalkeeping and the attacking threat of world-class forward Harry Kane will undoubtedly prove to be a handful for The Reds. Kane leads the entire league with 21 goals this season. Kane is currently two goals ahead of Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy in a quest for the Golden Boot.
Kane has dreams of one day claiming the Premier League career goals record. Alan Shearer is the current record-holder with an astounding 260 career goals, but Kane believes he has the skills to overtake him down the road. Kane is still at an early stage in his career, but the talent he has exhibited thus far might provide a glimpse of things to come.
Independent had this to say about Tottenham’s manager after their recent 3-0 defeat of Bournemouth: “Mauricio Pochettino could hardly have asked for a more comfortable afternoon and he will be delighted to see his star striker hitting hot form at just the right time.”
The Reds will need to find a way to contain such a prolific scorer if they have any chance of dampening Spurs’ chances at a league title. They have been on a roll recently, winning three of their last four Premier matches as well as defeating Manchester United 3-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. They will need to keep that momentum rolling if they wish to take down one of the hottest teams in Europe.
Via This Is Anfield: “Liverpool have enjoyed the upper hand of this fixture on Merseyside – with Spurs winning only one of their last 17 trips… But this Spurs team are a different proposition, a consistent and complete unit that it is hard to see the Reds beating without a big, collective effort.”
While it is true that Liverpool holds the recent edge in head to head match-ups between the two clubs, this year’s collection of Spurs seems destined to move three points closer to a championship.
Author Bio: Kentucky native, Kenton Jetton’s writing has been featured in three of the Bluegrass State’s academic print publications, as well as many online outlets. He earned his B.A. in English from Bellarmine University in 2014, and is a Contributing Editor at Football Ticket Net.