Liverpool vs Tottenham Preview: Robertson Returns to Anfield With Spurs Still Chasing a First League Goal
This is the tie of the round. Liverpool have not lost a match in any competition since Andoni Iraola took charge, and have not lost to Tottenham at Anfield in 17 attempts stretching back to 2011. Tottenham arrive having failed to score a single Premier League goal in four attempts, seventeenth in the table, and with a left-back in Andrew Robertson who spent nine years of his career on the other side of this fixture.
Two Clubs Going in Opposite Directions
Liverpool’s start under Iraola is honestly a little hard to read. They are unbeaten, but three of their four league matches have finished level: 2-2 with Newcastle, 2-2 at Nottingham Forest, and then a flat goalless draw at home to Fulham on Saturday in which Wirtz, Szoboszlai and Gravenberch all struggled to get hold of the game. Six points from twelve leaves them seventh.
Set against that, the same week produced a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town and a 2-1 victory over Atlético Madrid in the Champions League — the sort of result that suggests the ideas are landing when the legs are fresh. Iraola’s system asks a lot physically, and you could see the midweek European trip in the Fulham performance. This competition offers him something the league so far has not: a straight route to a trophy, at a club that has lifted this cup ten times, more than anyone else.
Tottenham’s season is much simpler to summarise. They lost 3-0 at Brentford on the opening weekend, then 2-0 at home to Newcastle, then drew 0-0 with Nottingham Forest and 0-0 with Everton. Four matches, two points, no goals, seventeenth. The exception came in the previous round of this very competition, when they put five past Charlton Athletic — though two of that day’s scorers have since gone out on loan. De Zerbi needs a performance; he also needs a goal from somewhere.
Head-to-Head: The Recent Meetings
Across 189 competitive meetings Liverpool lead 94 wins to 50, with 45 draws. Recent history is heavier still: three wins for Liverpool and one apiece in draws and Spurs wins from the last five, including last season’s 1-1 draw at Anfield in March, in which Szoboszlai’s first-half free kick was cancelled out by Richarlison in the ninetieth minute.
The Anfield record is where the numbers get stark. Liverpool are unbeaten in 17 home matches against Tottenham and have won seven of the last nine there. Spurs’ only win at this ground in the 21st century came in 2011, and they have shipped 18 goals across their last five visits. Only three of the last 28 league meetings between the clubs have gone Tottenham’s way.
| Date | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 15 Mar 2026 | Premier League | Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham |
| 20 Dec 2025 | Premier League | Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool |
| 27 Apr 2025 | Premier League | Liverpool 5-1 Tottenham |
| 6 Feb 2025 | EFL Cup semi-final, 2nd leg | Liverpool 4-0 Tottenham |
| 8 Jan 2025 | EFL Cup semi-final, 1st leg | Tottenham 1-0 Liverpool |
Three Liverpool wins, one draw, one Tottenham win. The two cup meetings are the ones that matter most here: Spurs won the first leg at home, Liverpool won the second 4-0 at Anfield to go through 4-1 on aggregate, then lost the final to Newcastle United.
Four Things to Watch
1. Andrew Robertson walks back through the door
Nine years at Anfield, hundreds of appearances, league titles, cup runs and European nights, and now he is the visiting left-back. Robertson is expected to start, and he will do it against a Liverpool side whose right flank is likely to be Jeremie Frimpong — all pace and direct running. It is the best individual story in the round, and also the most direct one-on-one in the match.
2. Liverpool will rotate, and the rotation has teeth
Iraola has confirmed Giorgi Mamardashvili starts in goal with Alisson rested, and has hinted that supporters will see players they have not seen yet. Wataru Endo is in line for his first minutes of the season, Trey Nyoni and Rio Ngumoha are both pushing for first starts, and Lewis Koumas is in contention at number ten. The catch is Hugo Ekitike’s injury: Alexander Isak is Liverpool’s only senior centre-forward, so even a heavily changed eleven carries a real striker.
3. Tottenham’s absentee list includes both first-choice full-backs
Pedro Porro missed the Everton draw with a muscle problem and is not expected to be risked, with Archie Gray likely to continue at right-back. Destiny Udogie is out on the other side. Add Dejan Kulusevski, still in rehabilitation, plus Xavi Simons, Wilson Odobert and Mykhailo Mudryk, and De Zerbi is picking from a noticeably reduced group for the hardest trip in the competition.
4. Six team changes but no precedent for scoring
Tottenham rank eighteenth in the division for both shots on target and expected goals. That is the number that decides this fixture, because Liverpool do not need to be brilliant to win it — the visitors simply have to find a goal they have not managed in four league matches. Their last five-goal haul came in this competition, against League One opposition, and two of those scorers have since been loaned out.
Predicted Lineups
Neither side had confirmed a starting XI at the time of writing. The selections below follow projected elevens published by Standard Sport, Tribal Football and WhichBookie, cross-checked against the sides that started against Fulham and Everton respectively. There is one unresolved question: some pre-match reports expect Virgil van Dijk to be rested while others include him, so treat the Liverpool back line as provisional.
Liverpool
- Mamardashvili
- Frimpong, Araujo, Jacquet, Tsimikas
- Mac Allister, Endo, Nyoni
- Ngumoha, Isak, Muñoz
Out: Ekitike, Leoni, Bradley, Chiesa. Joe Gomez is back in training for the first time since July and is available, though Iraola says how much he can play is still to be decided. Gakpo is the alternative to Isak through the middle; Barcola could make a third start in a week if Iraola wants more experience.
Tottenham Hotspur
- Kinský
- Gray, Van Hecke, Senesi, Robertson
- Fernandes, Tonali
- Kudus, Gallagher, Savio
- Solanke
Out: Porro, Udogie, Kulusevski, Mudryk, Simons, Odobert. Robertson is expected to start against his former club, and Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali are both expected to feature in midfield.
Key Battle: Frimpong Against Robertson
Strip away the cup context and this is a reasonably legible tactical question. Liverpool will dominate territory, ask their full-backs to pin Tottenham’s wide players high up the pitch, and rely on Isak to occupy Van Hecke and Senesi. Tottenham will sit in, defend the middle with Fernandes and Tonali, and try to break into the space Liverpool leave behind their advancing full-backs.
Which makes Robertson’s flank the interesting one. He knows Anfield better than almost anyone in the away dressing room, but he will spend much of the evening running towards his own goal against one of the quickest wide players in the league. If Tottenham are going to get anything here, they need that duel to go Robertson’s way, and they need Solanke to get a touch in the box — something he has barely managed in the league all season.
Kit Note: Red and White, Home and Away
Both clubs have deep ranges in the shop this season, which makes this the easiest fixture of the round to kit out. Liverpool’s 2026/27 selection covers the home shirt in standard, womens and kids cuts, the away, and — most topical given Isak is the only fit senior striker in the squad tonight — the home shirt with his number nine on the back. Tottenham’s current home and away are joined by the kids’ home and last season’s third. Here is what is available.
Liverpool — home, away, kids, womens and the Isak print
Swipe to browse 5 Liverpool shirts
Tottenham — home, away, kids and last season's third
Swipe to browse 4 Tottenham shirts
