Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will hope to fire his side into the Carabao Cup final on Thursday, facing Tottenham in the second leg of the semi-final. The Reds, of course, have a 1-0 deficit to overturn thanks to Lucas Bergvall's late goal a month ago.

But the man who will be looking to stop him has sent a message ahead of the clash. Djed Spence has come into his own in the last few weeks, impressing amid a tricky spell for Ange Postecoglou's men.

"I back myself against anyone, whoever," he told the Daily Mirror. Facing Salah at Anfield, though, might be the biggest challenge of all. "He's a great player, a top player," Spence added. "He's in good form but you’ve just got to nullify what he's good at really."

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That, however, will be easier said than done. "He's good at a lot of things," Spence said. "I just gotta stay focused on it and hopefully come out on top. We’ve got to be confident and we’ve got to be ready to fight and hopefully we make it to the final."

Spence has been in good form recently, earning a Man of the Match award for his performance against Bryan Mbeumo at the weekend during Spurs' 2-0 win over Brentford. And he is eyeing a national team call-up under Thomas Tuchel.

"I definitely want to play for England," Spence added. "That's definitely one of my goals, I want to be called up, it’s something I want to achieve."

Liverpool.com says: Spence has been playing the best soccer of his career in the last few weeks but Salah showed against Milos Kerkez in the Bournemouth game that he can still make the decisive difference even when his opponent plays well. Liverpool will be hoping to come out on top against Tottenham and should be confident of doing so. Salah is likely to be central.