Liverpool vs Tottenham score prediction: Premier League clash simulated as Alexander-Arnold stars
After a rare week off, Liverpool returns to action later today when it hosts Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
Liverpool's season has derailed over the last few weeks, with the Reds being knocked out of the FA Cup, Europa League, and dropping out of the Premier League title race all in the space of a month. It's been far from the fairytale ending that Jürgen Klopp would've hoped for in his final season at the club, but they have a chance to end on a high over the next few weeks.
The clash with Spurs will be Klopp's penultimate Anfield game, and Liverpool will be looking for revenge against Ange Postecoglou's side after the controversial 2-1 defeat to the Lilywhites earlier in the season. Ahead of the game, Klopp confirmed that Virgil van Dijk has been absent from training, leaving doubts over the defender's involvement on Sunday.
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So, how will Liverpool fare against Spurs? To complete this simulation, we used EA FC 24 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that Liverpool could line up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their starting XI as follows: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Quansah, Robertson; Endō, Mac Allister, Jones; Salah, Gakpo, Díaz.
We predict that Spurs could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Emerson; Bissouma, Bentancur; Kulusevski, Maddison, Son; Richarlison.
It was a slow start from Liverpool at Anfield, with the Reds backline looking shaky in the opening stages and allowing Spurs a few sights of goal. Alisson made two big saves in the opening 15 minutes to keep the score level, and after the early pressure from the visitors, Klopp's side started to find their groove.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was instrumental for Liverpool, and the defender was robbed of a few assists in the first half after Guglielmo Vicario made some tremendous saves to deny the Reds' front line. As the game went on, the missed chances started to become frustrating as Vicario's save tally increased, but in the 68th minute, Liverpool finally broke the deadlock.
With his third consecutive corner, Alexander-Arnold whipped another inviting ball into the box, and the cross was met by Darwin Núñez who headed between the 'keeper and defender on the line to put the Reds a goal ahead.
Now a goal down, Spurs started to pile on the pressure as the game went on, with Heung-Min Son rattling the post with a curling effort from the left. The visitors threw more bodies forward as they got more desperate, and this worked in Liverpool's favor as they wrapped up the victory in the 89th minute.
A one-two between Alexis Mac Allister and Alexander-Arnold saw the latter drift into the middle, and he carried the ball past two Spurs midfielders to find some space just outside the box. Rather than shooting, the defender picked out the run of Dominik Szoboszlai, and the substitute drilled his shot into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
EA FC 24 predicted final score: Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham. What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!