Tottenham Hotspur host Liverpool in the second of the EFL Cup semi-final first legs this week on Wednesday night.
Liverpool boss Arne Slot will continue his surge to defend the cup won by Jurgen Klopp last season, while Ange Postecoglou is seeking to stick to his promise of always winning a trophy within two years at a new club.
Match preview
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If Postecoglou's promises are to become reality, Tottenham must put in a much better showing than they did when Liverpool travelled to North London just before Christmas and won 6-3.
An utterly abysmal defensive performance from Spurs was symptomatic of Postecoglou's philosophy since arriving at the club, as well as the current injury and illness crisis hitting his side.
The Spurs faithful witnessed yet another home defeat at the weekend, going down 2-1 against in-form Newcastle United, keeping them down in 12th, 10 points off the top six, after a run of one point from four games.
Playing the entire second half with no central defenders available to them gives a perfect explanation as to why Spurs have only kept one clean sheet in 11 games, and why they have one of the leakiest defences in the division.
A certain win is expected at the weekend against Tamworth in the FA Cup, so Spurs will hope to use this game not only to put them in good footing for the second leg, but to also prepare them well and build confidence ahead of the North London derby next midweek.
With league ambitions slipping away though, Postecoglou must get it right in this competition now, as the club seek to end their 17-year wait for a major honour.
Their success in this competition back in 2008 under Juande Ramos remains the last piece of silverware Spurs won, failing to get over the line in three final appearances since.
A run to the semi-finals this season is already a huge improvement on their showings across the last two campaigns, where they went out in rounds two and three, and they have done so with arguably the toughest run of any club.
Spurs have had to eliminate both Manchester clubs to get this far, including a 4-3 thriller over Manchester United in the last round, with a fifth EFL Cup crown now a real possibility.
Standing in their way though, are runaway Premier League leaders and EFL Cup holders Liverpool, who have made this competition their own in recent years.
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Successes over Chelsea in 2022 and 2024 have taken Liverpool to 10 EFL Cup wins, and if they are to reach the final again, they will have to get the better of one, or perhaps two, London clubs, with Arsenal still in the competition too.
Spurs' run has been difficult, but so has Liverpool's, facing Premier League clubs in every round - thrashing West Ham in round three, before getting the better of Brighton and Southampton in close encounters.
After two straight domestic draws, that win over Southampton in the last round kickstarted a four-game winning run, but that was ended at the weekend by a resurgent Man United, who went to Anfield and left with a 2-2 draw.
Fortunately for Liverpool, Arsenal also dropped points at Brighton, so they were able to maintain their six-point lead at the top despite only managing one point themselves.
With 19 games now played, if Liverpool can replicate their performance from the first half of the season, they will finish on 92 points, and almost certainly claim a second Premier League title in five years.
Team News
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It cannot be understated the crisis facing Spurs boss Postecoglou in terms of injury and illness, and he could be without almost his entire defence for this one.
Destiny Udogie joined Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Ben Davies on the sidelines with a hamstring problem last week, while Radu Dragusin and Archie Gray have both been struggling with illness.
Even in goal, Spurs were without backup Fraser Forster due to illness, meaning Brandon Austin had to deputise for Guglielmo Vicario at the weekend, but the signing of promising Czech keeper Antonin Kinsky could alleviate that problem for the time being.
Richarlison, Mikey Moore and Wilson Odobert all remain out due to a mixture of injury and illness too, but in midfield, Rodrigo Bentancur will be available again after suspension.
Seeking to extend a 16-game unbeaten away run, Slot may believe he can go slightly stronger here than in previous rounds, with no Premier League fixture until next midweek.
Dominik Szoboszlai may return from illness, but Joe Gomez remains sidelined as Liverpool only injury absentee with a hamstring problem.
Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have both been rested throughout this EFL Cup campaign, and could be granted rests again, with the likes of young pair Jarell Quansah and Harvey Elliott seeking valuable minutes in those two positions.
Conor Bradley is also back from a near-two-month setback, and should start over Trent Alexander-Arnold, who made plenty of headlines for his woeful performance at the weekend against Man United.
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Kinsky; Pedro Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence; Bissouma, Bentancur, Kulusevski; Johnson, Solanke, Son
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Kelleher; Bradley, Quansah, Konate, Tsimikas; Morton, Endo, Szoboszlai; Elliott, Jota, Nunez
We say: Tottenham Hotspur 2-4 Liverpool
Spurs games guarantee goals, and after the nine-goal thriller between the two just a few weeks ago, another could be in store, especially given the home side's defensive injury crisis.
Liverpool have scored 10 goals in their three EFL Cup games so far despite rotating heavily, so even with plenty of changes, they will be confident of putting themselves in a commanding position ahead of the second leg next month.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
