Jurgen Klopp may be out for a slight revenge on Sunday when Liverpool meet Tottenham at Anfield, having fallen foul of VAR controversy in the reverse Premier League clash.
Spurs won 2-1 at home in the previous meeting in September thanks to Joel Matip's last-gasp own goal as a nine-man Liverpool were unable to hold on at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The Reds also had a first-half goal from Luis Diaz ruled out for offside by the VAR after a miscommunication between the video officials and the assistant referee.
With third-placed Liverpool winless in two league games after their 2-2 draw with West Ham last time out, Klopp has that controversy on his mind ahead of the second clash at Anfield.
"It's always a challenge [against Spurs]," the Liverpool manager said at his pre-match press conference.
"I don't want to make it the biggest subject, but I can't forget the Tottenham game as well, it's just so strange.
"So, now we play Tottenham and that was obviously not their fault that night, they just played the game, but I would like to win that game for 500 reasons, that we lost there and the way we lost is one of them."
Tottenham have struggled recently, losing each of their last three after a 2-0 defeat against Chelsea that left them seven points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa, who have played a game more.
Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou was visibly furious in the first half at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, and acknowledged Tottenham have a long way to go to compete with the elite.
He said: "We need change. Change has to happen. You can’t want to alter your course, and quite dramatically for this club because we went down a certain direction and now we’re pivoting to a whole different direction.
"To expect the same people are going to be on that… it's just not going to happen.
"We've had two windows and we've had some development of players but when I say we've still got a long way to go, that's what I'm talking about."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah may have a point to prove against Tottenham, after his disagreement with Klopp before coming on at London Stadium in Liverpool's last outing.
The Egypt forward has gone four Premier League games without a goal or assist – and now is the time for Salah to step up and deliver for the Reds.
Tottenham – Son Heung-min
Son Heung-min has scored in each of his last four Premier League appearances against Liverpool, putting Spurs 1-0 up in the reverse fixture in September.
The only player to score in five consecutive Premier League games against the Reds is Jamie Vardy (between 2016 and 2017).
MATCH PREDICTION – LIVERPOOL WIN
Liverpool may not have won in two Premier League games but they are the favourites in this clash, owing to their remarkable head-to-head record with Spurs at Anfield.
The Reds have lost just one of their last 29 home league matches against Tottenham (W19 D9), a 2-0 defeat way back in May 2011.
Yet it will be no walkover as Spurs are looking to complete their first league double over Liverpool since the 2010-11 season, beating two different Reds managers that season (Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish).
Their last league double over the Reds beating the same manager twice was in Dalglish’s first spell in 1986-87, and this one could be filled with more late drama, too.
Liverpool (3) v Tottenham (3) has provided six 90th-minute winners in the Premier League, the most of any fixture in the competition’s history.
Indeed, both of the last two league meetings between the two sides have been won courtesy of a 90th-minute winner for the home team – will there be another here?
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Liverpool win – 55.7%
Tottenham win – 19.5%
Draw – 24.8%
Charlie Smith strengthen second round ambition with 4-0 win over Tarrant; STATHS hammer KT 18-1
Former champions Charlie Smith High strengthened their chances of progressing to the second round of the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup as they blanked Tarrant High 4-0 in their Zone B contest at the former’s Ninth Street base on Tuesday.
The win by Charlie Smith consolidated their hold on second position on 18 points and a healthy goal difference ahead of third-placed Jonathan Grant (15 points), who will be in action against fourth-placed Waterford (10 points) on Wednesday.
Reigning champions Mona High heads the Zone on 22 points, with Tarrant in fifth on six points, while Gaynstead High remain pointless.
Elsewhere, Zone D leaders St Andrew Technical (STATHS) hammered Kingston Technical 18-1 as they continue to hold Calabar at bay in the race for the top spot. Calabar defeated Vauxhall 4-1 at their Red Hills Road base.
Both teams moved to 22 points each, with STATHS holding a four-goal advantage over Calabar, while Haile Selassie (12 points), who lost 0-2 to Camperdown (11 points), remain third. Kingston Technical is still yet to gain a point.
Tuesday’s results
STATHS 18, Kingston Technical 1
Calabar 4, Vauxhall 1
Charlie Smith 4, Tarrant 0
Ascot High 4, Pembroke Hall 2
Haile Selassie 0, Camperdown 4
Dinthill, Port Antonio High open DaCosta Cup second round with 0-0 draw
Dinthill Technical and Port Antonio High opened the second round of the 2024 ISSA/Wata DaCosta Cup with a goalless draw at Carder Park on Tuesday.
For Dinthill, who finished second in Zone J of the first round on goal difference behind McGrath High, this was their second straight disappointing performance after a 1-2 loss to Charlemont High on Friday.
For Port Antonio, who comfortably won Zone M to advance to the second round, this is their second consecutive draw after eight consecutive wins to start the season.
Central High and Yallahs will face off tomorrow at Foga Road in the other Group 6 game.
Other games set for Wednesday include:
(Group 8) Christiana High vs Garvey Maceo High @Brooks Park
(Group 5) Happy Grove High vs Holmwood Tech @Carder Park
(Group 2) Ocho Rios High vs Black River High @Drax Hall
(Group 8) McGrath High vs St. Mary High @Ewarton Sports Complex
(Group 7) Glenmuir High vs Clarendon College @Glenmuir High
(Group 4) Maldon High vs Brown’s Town High @Jarrett Park
(Group 1) Cornwall College vs Kemps Hill High @Jarrett Park
(Group 3) Manning’s School vs Manchester High @Llandilo Community Centre
(Group 5) Belair High vs Denbigh High @Manchester High
(Group 4) Munro College vs Alphansus Davis High @Munro College
(Group 3) STETHS vs William Knibb Memorial @STETHS
(Group 1) Spot Valley High vs Rusea’s High @Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium
(Group 7) Paul Bogle High vs Titchfield High @York Oval
Portugal lacked 'a little bit of magic' in Scotland stalemate, says Martinez
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez was in a defensive mood following his team's goalless draw away to Scotland in the Nations League on Tuesday night.
After scoring in each of the Spaniard's first 12 competitive matches in charge of Portugal, the Selecao have since drawn a blank in four of their last seven matches.
Portugal did have their chances, however, registering 14 shots during the contest, though only three were on target, ending the night with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.52.
Martinez faced criticism for lacking a plan B after his side struggled to break the Scots down.
"Our talent of our players, is plan A, B, C, D, E," he told De Sporto after the match.
"We have players inside, outside, we are talking about a team that did not take risks, that defended very well.
"We are talking about a team [Portugal] that reached 53 times in the last third. We have to give credit to Scotland and to us the fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet."
It was a frustrating night for Martinez and fans alike.
Despite Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota among other big hitters starting, they were unable to find a way past 41-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who made some impressive saves when they did get in on goal.
When asked what was missing from the performance, he alluded to a lack of individual quality.
"A decision, a little bit of magic in the area. We had a lot of desire, we worked very well without the ball," Martinez said.
"It was a dangerous game because we could have possession of the ball, but Scotland have little need to score a goal. We showed freshness, but we lacked freshness in the last third.
"You also have to give credit to Scotland, they had a lot of players in front of goal, their goalkeeper also made a spectacular save."
Following the performance and result at Hampden Park, there have been further questions about Martinez's selection policy for Portugal.
The most high-profile query of all remains whether 39-year-old Ronaldo should continue, having had a difficult night on his 200th start for his country.
"The national team always has an open door, but now we are talking about a very, very large group of players," said Martinez.
"It is a question of continuing to connect and synchronise what we can do. Now the game in Porto is to celebrate qualification in front of our fans."
Scotland manager Steve Clarke, meanwhile, was much happier with the evening's result, which ended a four-game losing run for Scotland.
"It's not about turning a corner, it's just about working hard and not letting the country down. You could see that tonight," he said.
"The point was important for us after the work the group put in to get off the mark."
The result also marked Scotland's first clean sheet since beating Gibraltar 2-0 seven games ago in a pre-Euro 2024 warm-up friendly.
The performance at the back was another thing that pleased Clarke.
"Defensively sound, the shape of the team was good," he said.
"We denied a lot of space in behind. Good concentration in the box, determined defending at times, some really good blocks, which you need against sides like Portugal.
"Everyone contributed to earn the point."
Despite taking an unexpected point, Scotland are still bottom of their Nations League group, while the draw means they are winless in 10 matches - their longest ever run.
But Clarke feels the players will take a lot from Tuesday's match that will help them going forward.
"Everyone keeps talking about confidence, but they know they can play well," he said.
"We maybe didn't play as well as we could on the ball, which could be down to fatigue. But I don't think they lack confidence. Tonight's point will give us more confidence."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
