Tottenham v Liverpool predicted lineups and how to follow them: Salah looks at Premier League history as Reds look tops at Christmas

Liverpool can secure top spot in the Premier League at Christmas by beating Tottenham on Sunday afternoon.

The red ones They are not at the top of the table on December 25 since 2020/21, a season in which they did not end up winning the title.

They won the league in 2019/20 after leading the way during the festive period, so Arne Slot We will be waiting for that to be repeated.

The Slot team is on a huge unbeaten streak at the moment and has not lost a game in any competition since September.

And their aim will be to continue that against Spurs, who finally returned to winning ways by claiming a 5-0 victory against Southampton last week.

That victory relieved some pressure on Ange Postecoglouwhich was further boosted by their Carabao Cup victory over Manchester United on Thursday.

Tottenham vs Liverpool: Magic Mo

Mohamed Salah He has risen to another level this season.

He has been involved in 22 of Liverpool's 31 Premier League goals, which is by far the highest percentage of any player in their team (71 per cent).

The King of Egypt has 13 goals and nine assists in the top flight in just 15 games.

That incredible figure now has him on the brink of English football history.

If he provides an assist against Tottenham this weekend, Salah will become the first player to reach double figures in goals and assists before Christmas.

What an incredible achievement it would be for the Reds legend, who may be playing his final season at the club.

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• Tottenham won this exact match 2-1 last season, last winning consecutive home league games against Liverpool between 2008 and 2012 (a streak of five).
• Liverpool have lost just two of their last 23 Premier League games against Tottenham (15 wins and six draws) and have scored at least once in each of their last 17 against Spurs.
• Tottenham won this exact match 2-1 last season thanks to a Joel Matip own goal in the 90th minute. In fact, this match has seen more 90th-minute winning goals than any other in history of the Premier League (6).

Tottenham vs Liverpool: planned lineups

Tottenham's long injury list persists and that means Postecoglou will have to continue playing makeshift defense.

Guglielmo Vicario, Christian Romero and Micky van de Ven are sidelined while Destiny Udogie missed the cup match against Man United.

It means Fraser Forster will likely be back in goal despite his midweek struggles, with Radu Dragusin partnering Archie Gray at centre-back and Djed Spence at full-back.

Rodrigo Bentancur He is serving the last of his seven-match ban so is still sidelined, meaning Pape Matar Sarr will be in midfield.

Yves Bissouma has returned from his suspension and is likely to be alongside Sarr, although Lucas Bergvall sadly missed out after a strong performance last week.

James Maddison will sit in front of them while the captain Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski provide width and Dominic Solanke leads the line.

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As for Liverpool, Slot rotated greatly in the Carabao Cup midweek, so he has all his star players fit and ready to go.

Besides that, Andy Robertson He served his suspension against Southampton and will be available to return for this game.

alison and Virgil van Dijk They were among those who rested, but they will return in a defense starring Joe Gómez and Robertson.

Ibrahima Konate is still out and Gomez appears to be preferred over Jarell Quansah.

In the center of the field, the one who is in shape Ryan Gravenberg He will be joined by Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, who will have Curts Jones competing for his place.

Of course, Salah will be on the right, with Luis Diaz expected to start on the opposite wing after he played no role in midweek.

That would mean Cody Gakpo is lost while Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota They are left to fight for the forward position.

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• Son Heung-min's two assists against Southampton last game took his Premier League total to 68, the most of any Tottenham player in the competition's history (equal to Darren Anderton).
• Spurs have scored more goals in the first 15 minutes of a game than any other Premier League team this season (9), five of them in their last two games.

Tottenham vs Liverpool: What has been said?

Slot explained why he rotated so much in midweek before this match, but insisted he did not do it to help win against Tottenham.

The Liverpool manager said on Wednesday: “It would be normal that if I played with all the usual starters, we would have a better team than the one we have tonight, otherwise every week I would make the wrong decision.”

“We also trust these players because we know the quality they have. So, that's the first reason to play with these players. We also have a lot of confidence in them.

“Secondly, it's not about Sunday's result, but more about the long-term health of the players, so we made the decision to give those who have played so many minutes a little rest this week.

“Because the agenda will be intense again in the coming weeks. Those who have played a lot, only 45 or 60 minutes, and those who have not played much, 90.

“That's what we did and it was good for us that it was enough to win it.”

• Tottenham have only kept a clean sheet in their last 23 Premier League home games, a 4-0 win against Everton earlier this season. They are winless in their last three games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (D1 L2), and last went on a longer winless streak at home in November/December 2013 (4).
• Having conceded just three goals in their first eight Premier League games this season, Liverpool have conceded 10 in their last seven. Their last two games have been drawn 3-3 with Newcastle and 2-2 with Fulham, and the Reds last drew three consecutive league games in the same season in October 2015.

Tottenham vs Liverpool: Date and how to follow

This Premier League clash will take place on Sunday, December 22.

Kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

The game will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League.

If you're not already a Sky Sports customer, fans can sign up here or you can sign up for a NOW TV membership here to observe the action.

talkSPORT will also be informed of the latest news and updates.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 via the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen through the talkSPORT appon DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.