Tottenham vs Liverpool prediction: Cody Gakpo to continue hot form against Spurs | OneFootball

Attentions turn to the League Cup on Wednesday as Tottenham host Liverpool for the second time in two-and-a-half weeks in the first leg of the semi-finals.

For Ange Postecoglou this is a welcome distraction from the league, where they have lost three of their last four matches, including the 6-3 defeat at the hands of Wednesday’s opponents.

While for Liverpool, it is a chance to defend the title they won in February last year and lift the trophy for a record 11th time, when the final takes place on 16 March.

You would like to say that the league form goes out of the window when it comes to the cup competitions, but Liverpool have been in exceptional form in every game they have played - scoring goals for fun along the way.

And, add to that the fact that both teams are so close to the final I wouldn’t expect too many changes from the sides that faced each other just before Christmas.

Football betting sites have Arsenal as the favourites to lift the trophy at 8/5, just ahead of Liverpool at 7/4. Spurs are the outsiders to win their first trophy in almost 17 years at 8/1.

Arne Slot’s side have faced just Premier League opposition on their way to the semi-finals and they showed their intent in the competition when they entered in Round Three.

They hosted West Ham back in September and ran out 5-1 winners, with the goals scored by Diogo Jota (2), Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo, who bagged a brace in added time. The Reds also scored the West Ham goal as Jarrell Quansah put through his own net to open the scoring for the visitors, who had Edson Alvarez sent off with 14 minutes to go.

They have also beaten Brighton and Southampton on their way to the last four.

Tottenham’s tournament got underway with a trip to Coventry when they came from behind in dramatic style to win 2-1, thanks to goals from Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson in the last two minutes.

They then beat Manchester City 2-1 before also knocking out their Manchester rivals United 4-3 at the quarter-final stage.

All season Spurs boss Postecoglou has regularly talked about the fact he “always wins things” in his second year at clubs, and how he is planning to continue that form at Tottenham, whose last silverware was the League Cup back in 2008.

If the League Cup is to be that silverware then whoever plays in defence will have to do better than they have in recent weeks, conceding 14 in their last five games.

Betting sites have Liverpool as the favourites to win at 5/7, with Spurs priced at 17/5 and you can get 4/1 on the match ending all square.

Their injury woes have been well-documented with defenders Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies all out, as well as first-choice keeper Guglielmo Vicario. They were also without backup keeper Fraser Forster for Saturday’s visit of Newcastle, through illness but Brandon Austin had a debut to remember, despite ending up on the losing side.

They signed goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague, on Sunday paying £12.5m for the Czech Republic U21 international and he could make his debut on Wednesday.

With Liverpool facing League Two side Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup on Saturday, and the opportunity to rest players, Slot might use this game as more of a first-team fixture and a chance to all but secure their place in the final, before the second leg in almost a month’s time.

Three of the last four meetings between the two sides have seen six or more goals scored and the fact that no one has scored more goals than the two sides in the Premier League means there will be plenty of chances and neither side is likely to hold back despite it only being the first leg.

Cody Gakpo seems to like the League Cup. He scored four goals in his first four appearances last season, and two a piece in the wins over West Ham and Brighton.

He has also scored three goals in his last three for Liverpool and was somehow not on the scoresheet as Liverpool scored six at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Betting apps have him at 13/2 to score first, 15/2 to score last and 43/20 to score at any time. You can also get 10/1 on him keeping up his record of scoring two in this competition.

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