Squawka
·20 de dezembro de 2024
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Yahoo sportsSquawka
·20 de dezembro de 2024
Liverpool will bid to extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 21 games when they visit Tottenham in what will be a preview of their forthcoming EFL Cup semi-final.
Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Forster; Porro, Gray, Dragusin, Udogie; Sarr, Bissouma; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Solanke.
Spurs have scored nine goals in their last two outings as they prepare to host the league leaders at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (22nd December) at 16:30 GMT.
The Premier League game will be shown live on Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Main Event in the UK.
Liverpool fans have had to be patient with their summer signing Federico Chiesa but the 27-year-old Italy international made his first appearance since September in Wednesday’s EFL Cup quarter-final win over Southampton.
The former Fiorentina and Juventus star has made only one start for his new club – providing an assist for Diogo Jota in the 5-1 home EFL Cup win against West Ham – but was back in action when playing the second half of the game at St Mary’s and showed some neat touches.
Manager Arne Slot said that he is not going to rush Chiesa on his return to action but a gradual build-up of his playing time could provide the Reds with a valuable asset for their title challenge.
“You see him on the pitch, which means he’s getting stronger and he’s getting better. He had to adapt for quite a long time” said Slot.
“I’ve said so many times, it is to be expected if you miss team training sessions for so long and then you go to a league where the intensity is so high as well. Yes, he is getting strong, but he is also facing competition in the right wing position” added the Anfield manager.
Tottenham will again be short of options at the back due to an absentee list that includes goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario (ankle) and defenders Micky van de Ven (hamstring), Cristian Romero (thigh) and Ben Davies (hamstring).
Further forward Ange Postecoglou will not be able to call on Wilson Odobert or Richarlison due to hamstring injuries, while Rodrigo Bentancur remains suspended.
Wingers Timo Werner and Mikey Moore will be assessed after battling illness but Destiny Udogie should be able to start despite lasting only 28 minutes against Southampton last week.
Conor Bradley (hamstring) and Ibrahima Konate (knee) are the only players unavailable to Liverpool manager Arne Slot due to injuries and he will be able to bring back Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Mohamed Salah after resting them for the midweek EFL Cup win at Southampton.
Defender Andy Robertson is available again after suspension following his red card in the 2-2 draw with Fulham, but his place is under threat from a fit-again Kostas Tsimikas.
Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz are in the mix for starts in the Reds’ attacking positions but Federico Chiesa is likely to remain on the bench for now as he continues to build his fitness back up.