Liverpool’s recent focus has been on the Mohamed Salah saga but pressure now returns to their Premier League defence.
Who: Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool
What: English Premier League
Where: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, United Kingdom
When: Saturday December 20, at 5:30pm (17:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on media Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our text commentary stream. Click here to follow our live coverage.
Defending champions Liverpool will seek back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since September when they visit Tottenham on Saturday, but the Reds’ woes are far from a distant memory.
The pressure building on manager Arne Slot, who last year won the title in his first season in charge, was mounting after a run of nine defeats in 12.
The public fallout between the Anfield club and their star forward, Mohamed Salah, has overshadowed the Slot situation – but it has not gone away. Spurs similarly had a sticky run of six defeats in 10 games during October and November and it has hardly improved since.
media Sport takes a look at a game that sees both managers concerned for their immediate futures.
Salah has now departed for Egypt duty at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, but it has not changed his situation at Anfield.
Ever since the 33-year-old claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” by the Reds for their woeful season – after he was dropped to the bench for three consecutive games – rumours had been rife that his time on Merseyside was coming to an end.
The Saudi Pro League have made no secret of their desire to make a move for Salah, who was dropped from Liverpool’s squad for their Champions League match in Milan following his outburst.
The forward did return to the bench for the visit of Brighton in the Premier League last week but his time away at AFCON is likely to be surrounded by speculation that the January transfer window will see a switch to Saudi Arabia.
Tottenham were soundly beaten 3-0 at Nottingham Forest last Sunday, in a game that saw rumours of Thomas Frank’s demise as Spurs manager increase.
Callum Hudson-Odoi scored the first two goals for the home side before Ibrahim Sangare ended any hopes of a Spurs comeback in the 79th minute.
Liverpool put aside the Salah saga and the speculation about Slot’s future with a 2-0 win against Brighton at Anfield last Saturday.
Hugo Ekitike scored both goals, the opener in the first minute of the match, while Salah was an early first-half substitute and assisted for the second from a corner kick.
Whether that was Salah’s last game as a Red remains to be seen.
Tottenham began their Premier League campaign, Frank’s first in charge, with a run of only one defeat in their opening seven games. The North Londoners have since lost five of their last nine in the league.
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