Graeme Souness has taken aim at Tottenham ahead of the Champions League final on Saturday evening – claiming that Mauricio Pochettino’s side are fortunate to have even made it to Madrid.
The Scot was typically blunt in the way he made the point – but he isn’t wrong when you see what he based the ‘lucky’ claim on.
Speaking to Balls.ie, Souness said: “Spurs shouldn’t be there. The way they’ve got to the final, they have been lucky.
“You say to anyone at the start of the season, ‘This team is going to lose 19 games in all competitions and yet they’ll find themselves in the Champions League final’ – you’d have said they’re talking nonsense. They are fortunate to be there.
“I’m looking at it mostly through the eyes of a Liverpool supporter. If you were picking a team from the 22 players that are going to start the game, how many Spurs players would be in that XI? I’m thinking [only Christian] Eriksen and Harry Kane.”
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While Souness is pretty much spot on with his analysis of the situation, we should all be expecting a very closely-fought contest.
Both the league games against Spurs, which the Reds won this season, were close affairs decided by a single goal, and that might have to be the way again in this one.
As much as the Reds are better than Spurs, Pochettino has the capability to produce an excellent tactical plan and players like Eriksen and Kane only take a second to score a goal or produce a moment of magic.
The Reds, though, have the experience of last season’s final to fall back on, and should be confident going into the match, as Souness says. It’s got all the makings of an excellent game – hopefully, it will be Jordan Henderson lifting the trophy at the end of it.