Tottenham vs Liverpool LIVE: Team news, line-ups and latest updates from Carabao Cup semi-final

Ange Postecoglou spoke about what he is expecting from tonight’s game and how Liverpool will play. The Spurs boss said: “We’ve got an opponent who has been the standout team so far this year in all competitions.

“They are a top side. They’re really settled, I think they have got just about everyone fit and healthy. They can rotate players so they’re in a good moment and it will be a great challenge for us.”

“It would be a bit weird if I said during the summer break that we are very happy with the team then I would tell you something completely different now.” said Arne Slot when asked if he wanted to make some signings in the January transfer window.

He continued: “But you always look at the market, this club has always looked at the market. I think we did this with the goalkeeper we don’t even have at the moment [Giorgi Mamardashvili]; if there is a chance in the market this club always tries to bring that chance in. But the team is in a good place.

“Unfortunately, Joe Gomez is injured [and] that means we go from four centre-backs back to three, but he will be back in a few weeks so [I am] very happy with the team and I think they deserved that trust from the club and from me if you look at the performances they have brought in over the last half-season.”

Liverpool’s last outing was a 2-2 draw with Manchester United at Anfield. The game was a thrilling affair but Trent Alexander-Arnold had a poor outing compared to his usual high standards.

The Liverpool manager addressed whether he had any concerns over the right-back and he replied: “I think we were all disappointed – not only Trent, we were all disappointed – by the way we played [against Manchester United on Sunday].

“First of all, about the result. Parts of the game we could be quite satisfied with, other parts of our game we weren’t completely happy with. That was not only Trent, there were more things in the game that we could have done better.

“Trent didn’t play his best game, I’ve said it already, but that’s not for the first time in his life he didn’t play the best game of his career. He has played so, so, so many games well for this club.

“Now it wasn’t his best – like for some others, it wasn’t the best game for some others as well.”

Two years earlier, they came closer than anyone arguably ever has, reaching the penultimate game of the campaign with a chance of four trophies. They ended 2021-22, however, without the two biggest prizes: runners-up in the Premier League, they became beaten finalists in the Champions League.

Tottenham are still without a number of key players in their squad and Ange Postecoglou was asked if he had any positive news to share about those out with injuries.

The Australian replied: “It depends, net wise we are still down. We will get Bentancur back, but we lose Maddison and Pape Sarr by suspension, so couple of numbers down there.

“In terms of the injuries, no-one is back. Mikey (Moore) could potentially be available to be on the bench. Everyone else from the weekend certainly feels better, Radu (Dragusin) has recovered, Archie (Gray) is better. They were the main ones.

“Deki (Kulusevski) was under the weather, but he’s good. So, pretty much as it was on the weekend, plus Bentancur, minus the other two.”

Ange Postecoglou admitted that Tottenham’s form in the Premier League was awful and says he is looking forward to an exciting match in a different competition tonight.

Speaking ahead of the game the Tottenham manager said: “Our league results have been poor, there is no hiding from that. It is a separate competition. We have done well to get to the semi-final stage.

“We’ve beaten both Manchester clubs to do that. It hasn’t been an easy road to the semi-finals. We’ve got an opponent that has been the standout team in all competitions. So it is a great test for us, but it is a semi-final first leg and should be exciting. I am looking forward to it.

“That’s the case, irrespective of how you play. There is a second leg to be played. That doesn’t change our approach. We’re at home and in a two-legged affair, if you can get some kind of advantage in your home game, you are set up pretty well, so that’s what we will try to do.”

The Liverpool boss spoke about what he is expecting from tonight’s match especially after watching his team defeat Spurs 6-3 in the Premier League a few weeks ago.

Slot said: “I think what we expect before we go into the game is that two teams have such a clear identity and playing style, that is I think what most people expect to see again as well.

“They have their identity, we have our own identity, and both teams trying to force that identity towards the other. Large parts of the away game two weeks ago, we could show our identity.

“But there were definitely also parts in the game where they showed how good of a team they are. Scoring three goals against us is also an accomplishment. I know we scored six in the game as well but scoring three against us, not many teams have done [that] until now.”

It’s a week where only four Premier League teams have double fixtures, so it consequently becomes a little double-edged. Although the Carabao Cup semi-final managers are at a stage of the season where their squads could badly do with time to breathe, the fact they are so close to Wembley means they feel they have little choice but to go all in. There’s a trophy to be won.

That just means they lose a little bit of ground on, well, the training ground after the hectic December schedule. It’s perhaps just as well for Mikel Arteta and Arne Slot, in particular, that they have the FA Cup rather than Premier League at the weekend. We can expect some drastically changed sides.

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou decided not to reveal if new signing Antonin Kinsky would play a part in tonight’s league cup match against Liverpool

“We’ll see,” Postecoglou said, when asked if the 21-year-old stopper will make his Spurs.

“He obviously arrived Sunday, he’s had a couple of days of training and he’s registered and eligible to play. We’ve still got to do a couple of final things with him and then we’ll see.”

The Liverpool manager was asked in his pre-match press conference yesterday whether he was likely to make any changes to his starting XI.

He said: “I think if you look at all the fixtures we’ve had this season, there are so many things going into a line-up – short term, long term, qualities of the opponent, where are my players [at]?

“So, it’s going to always be a decision made about, in our opinion, the best line-up for tomorrow. In some situations, for Southampton away or other games, in my opinion the best line-up was the ones that didn’t start a lot.

“Let’s see what that is tomorrow for the game we play against Tottenham.”