Liverpool and Tottenham are currently level at 0-0 after 30 minutes in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie on Thursday morning (AEDT).
An already injury-hit Tottenham has suffered another big blow early in Thursday’s game, with Rodrigo Bentancur stretchered off after just seven minutes.
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Bentancur had gone for a low header off a corner and appeared land hard on his head while diving to the ground, although the broadcast opted against showing replays and so it was unclear exactly what happened.
After an eight-minute stoppage, Bentancur was moved onto a stretcher and carried off the pitch before being replaced by Brennan Johnson.
As play got underway it didn’t take long for Tottenham to create the first real scoring opportunity of the game, with Son Heung-min crossing the ball to Dominic Solanke who sent his shot just wide.
Still, it was an early warning shot from Tottenham after an uncharacteristically sloppy start from Liverpool, although only a few minutes passed before the Reds fired right back with a close call of their own.
On this occasion, Cody Gakpo put it on a platter for Mo Salah but the Liverpool striker also wasn’t quite on target.
Meanwhile, Liverpool was dealt an early injury setback of its own after Jarell Quansah came from the field in the 28th minute and was replaced by Wataru Endo.
TEAMS
Liverpool
Starting XI: Alisson, Bradley, Van Dijk, Quansah, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Jones, Gakpo, Jota, Salah
Subs: Kelleher (GK), Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Robertson, Endo, Elliott, Diaz, Chiesa, Nunez
Tottenham
Starting XI: Kinsky, Pedro Porro, Dragusin, Gray, Spence, Bergvall, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Son, Solanke, Werner
Subs: Austin (GK), Dorrington, Reguilon, Olusesi, Moore, Min-hyeok, Johnson, Werner, Lankshear
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PREVIEW AND TEAM NEWS:
Liverpool has dropped right back Trent Alexander-Arnold to the bench as it prepares to face Tottenham in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final tie on Thursday morning (AEDT).
Alexander-Arnold came under heavy scrutiny following a sub-par performance against Manchester United, with the poor outing only adding to the pressure on the 26-year-old, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
Conor Bradley is the man to step in for Alexander-Arnold, who drops back to the bench, while in other changes Jarell Quansah replaces Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas is in for Andy Robertson and Diogo Jota returns in place of Luis Diaz.
Arne Slot told Sky Sports before Thursday’s game that Alexander-Arnold was not demoted to the bench because of the performance against United, instead explaining that it “mostly has to do with Trent playing so many minutes” while Bradley was unavailable due to injury.
“Now it’s a good thing we have Conor back who needs his minutes as well,” he added.
“You can see it on the opposite side with Robertson and Tsimikas. As far as I know, Robertson is not distracted by contractual situations. So that is not in my mind when I make decisions.”
Elsewhere, Ange Postecoglou told media he was looking forward to a “great test” as he aims to deliver a trophy to Tottenham in his second season.
However, Spurs have certainly not been in the best form since the thrilling win over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-final last month, losing three of their last four games.
Spurs to target January transfer window | 01:10
As for Tottenham team news, Czech under-21 international goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky is straight into the starting XI after signing with Spurs on a deal worth about £12.5 million ($A25 million).
Tottenham has been without first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario since he fractured his ankle in November, while Fraser Forster missed their most recent game against Newcastle due to illness.
Elsewhere, Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall start in midfield with James Maddison and Pape Matar Sarr suspended.
There are a pair of fresh faces on the Tottenham bench too with Mikey Moore (illness) in the frame for his first minutes in two months while 18-year-old South Korean league signing Yang Min-hyeok also features.