Tottenham welcome Liverpool at White Hart Lane
Tottenham Hotspur have enjoyed a faultless start to the season but face their toughest test to date against Liverpool on Super Sunday.
Spurs find themselves perched at the top of the Premier League standings after seeing off capital rivals West Ham United and Queens Park Rangers in their opening two fixtures.
They are one of only four sides to boast a 100 per cent record and one of just two yet to concede a goal – the other being Aston Villa.
Another solid performance on home soil this weekend would help to keep them at the summit heading into the international break, but their fortunes against Liverpool will have to improve markedly in order for that to happen.
The men from Merseyside thoroughly enjoyed their meetings with inconsistent Spurs last season, prevailing 4-0 at Anfield and 5-0 in north London.
That crushing victory is, however, the only one they have collected from their last seven visits to White Hart Lane – with five straight league defeats, six including cup competitions, suffered prior to that.
Brendan Rodgers could do without another untimely stumble this weekend, with Liverpool still licking their wounds following a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City last time out – another side they are hoping to compete with for title glory and a top-four finish this term.
Team news
Tottenham will make sweeping changes to the side which overcame AEL Limassol 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday, with the likes of Danny Rose, Emmanuel Adebayor and Christian Eriksen ready to slot back in.
Eric Dier, who has netted in each of his Premier League appearances to date, will also return, providing cover for the injured Kyle Walker at right-back, but the game may come too soon for new signing Federico Fazio.
The in-form Erik Lamela will be recalled, with Spanish striker Roberto Soldado, who is struggling with neck and back problems, the only other doubt for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.
Liverpool are expected to hand a debut to Mario Balotelli, with the former Manchester City striker having been forced to watch from the stands against his former club on Monday after completing a move from AC Milan.
Adam Lallana is also pushing for his Reds bow after overcoming a knee problem, but Rodgers still has a number of injury concerns to contend with.
Glen Johnson is nursing a knock, which means Javier Manquillo could come in at right-back, while on the opposite flank Jose Enrique may be required to cover for Alberto Moreno – after he limped off against City. Martin Skrtel is another defensive doubt, along with fellow centre-half Daniel Agger.
Paul Merson’s prediction
This is a big, big football match. Tottenham have had a mixed start under Mauricio Pochettino as they were lucky against West Ham but slaughtered QPR. If they win this then they will start believing. As for Liverpool, they looked comfortable against Man City for 30 minutes but were a bit toothless and didn’t look like scoring for all their nice football from box to box. That’s not the Liverpool I remember from last season when they looked like scoring every time they went forward. Mario Balotelli is a top-drawer player and offers another body and hopefully the penny will drop with him at some point. If he plays to his best on the field then £16million won’t look too bad – but the good games haven’t outweighed the bad when I’ve watched him. They need some cutting edge because they can’t afford to play another big team and lose again so early in the season.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-2