By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou will be particularly keen to end Liverpool’s winning run when the Australian’s boyhood heroes visit in the Premier League on Saturday.
Postecoglou’s attacking style has won plenty of admirers since he joined Spurs in July and the clash between two of the league’s four unbeaten sides could be a lively affair.
Fourth-placed Tottenham are enjoying their best start to a league season in 57 years while Liverpool in second are chasing a sixth successive league win and eighth in all competitions.
Postecoglou’s football journey was inspired by the great Liverpool sides of the past so the clash will be a trip down memory lane and can make a big statement about his side’s future.
“I was a massive Liverpool fan. I loved Bill Shankly, I loved the boot room, the whole story,” he told former Spurs and England striker Gary Lineker in a recent BBC interview.
“I’ve taken the posters down, mate. Last week,” he joked, when asked if he was still a fan.
Tottenham, who have won only once against Liverpool in their last 20 league encounters, are hoping their England playmaker James Maddison will be fit for the evening game after jolting his knee in the 2-2 draw at Arsenal last weekend.
Liverpool have scored three goals in each of their last five matches and rested key players in the 3-1 League Cup third round win against second-tier Leicester City at Anfield on Tuesday.
SEVEN UP?
Champions Manchester City, with six wins from six league games, visit 16th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
Both sides lost in the League Cup third round this week, with City manager Pep Guardiola resisting the temptation to play striker Erling Haaland in the 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United on Wednesday.
City will be without central midfielder Rodri, serving a three-match ban, as they seek to win their opening seven matches of a top flight season for the first time.
Arsenal, fifth and unbeaten in their last seven league games dating back to last season, have a day out on the south coast at 17th-placed Bournemouth — the Premier League’s only non-promoted team yet to win this season.
England forward Bukayo Saka is doubtful for the Gunners after picking up a knock against Tottenham.
Third-placed Brighton & Hove Albion — the league’s top scorers with 18 goals — play in Saturday’s lunchtime kick off at Aston Villa, who are sixth and chasing their 10th successive home league win.
Manchester United play Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday for the second time in five days after beating the Londoners 3-0 in their League Cup match on Tuesday.
Newcastle host Burnley, a side once managed by Magpies boss Eddie Howe, while West Ham United are at home against bottom side Sheffield United — thrashed 8-0 by Newcastle last weekend with eight different players scoring.
Everton should see a morale-boosting third win in three games, after beating Villa 2-1 in the League Cup and Brentford 3-1 last weekend, when they welcome promoted Luton Town.
Luton, who have one point, are the league’s lowest scoring team, with only three goals so far.
Nottingham Forest host Brentford on Sunday while Fulham host Chelsea in a mid-table West London derby on Monday.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ken Ferris)
