Jan Vertonghen believes former team-mate Luis Suarez is the only reason Tottenham will head to Anfield next weekend so far behind Liverpool.

Despite having played a game less, the Reds boast a nine-point lead over Spurs and there is a growing belief on Merseyside that they may well end the season with a first league title since 1990.

It is quite the change in fortunes from even a few months ago, when it looked like it would be a straight fight between the two sides for fourth place.

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Liverpool are looking for a seventh-straight league win against Sunderland on Wednesday ahead of next Sunday's clash with Spurs, and defender Vertonghen knows exactly what the difference between the sides has been.

"Suarez," he said. "Suarez is the reason for that.

"At the moment he is up there as one of the best strikers in the world. I think he is the difference between the teams.

"(Daniel) Sturridge obviously is doing well and those two are very hard to stop."

Shape Created with Sketch. Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Show all 77 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures 1/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Tim Sherwood has a joke as he helps his gilet onto the fan GETTY IMAGES 2/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Emmanuel Adebayor does his salute celebration after scoring Spurs' third GETTY IMAGES 3/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Emmanuel Adebayor scores from a penalty GETTY IMAGES 4/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Harry Kane and Paulinho celebrate after Tottenham's second, an own goal from Nathan Baker GETTY IMAGES 5/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Paulinho celebrates after opening the scoring for Spurs GETTY IMAGES 6/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Emmanuel Adebayor looks on frustrated during his team's defeat GETTY IMAGES 7/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Stewart Downing celebrates his goal with teammates Andy Carroll and Mark Noble GETTY IMAGES 8/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Stwart Downing puts West Ham two up with a free kick GETTY IMAGES 9/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Mohamed Diame clears the ball in acrobatic style GETTY IMAGES 10/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Andy Carroll celebrates after West Ham take the lead, the goal would go down as a Harry Kane og GETTY IMAGES 11/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Referee Phil Dowd shows Younes Kaboul a red card GETTY IMAGES 12/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Steven Nzonzi and Danny Rose square up after clashing in a tackle GETTY IMAGES 13/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Harry Kane races away from Ryan Shawcross GETTY IMAGES 14/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Marko Arnautovic is tackled by Nacer Chadli GETTY IMAGES 15/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Tottenham players celebrate with Danny Rose after he puts the away team in front GETTY IMAGES 16/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Danny Rose celebrates with Aaron Lennon after heading in Tottenham's opening goal GETTY IMAGES 17/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Younes Kaboul celebrates his goal after putting Spurs 3-1 up GETTY IMAGES 18/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Steve Sidwell and Danny Rose contest for the ball GETTY IMAGES 19/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Hugo Lloris produces a superb save after Hugo Rodallega's header GETTY IMAGES 20/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Harry Kane scores and gives Spurs there lead back GETTY IMAGES 21/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Steve Sidwell puts Fulham level with a chipped effort over Hugo Lloris GETTY IMAGES 22/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Christian Eriksen controls the ball despite pressure from Alex Kacaniklic GETTY IMAGES 23/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Tottenham Hotspur's Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen (R) celebrates after scoring his team's third goal 24/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Harry Kane of Spurs is congratulated by teammates after scoring his team's second goal 25/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Stephane Sessegnon celebrates scoring the third goal 26/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Emmanuel Adebayor of Spurs misses a with a penalty attempt 27/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Chris Brunt of West Bromwich celebrates after scoring his team's second goal 28/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 West Bromwich Albion's Czech forward Matej Vydra celebrates after scoring the opening goal Getty Images 29/77 Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Emmanuel Adebayor of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his second goal against Sunderland by saluting manager Tim Sherwood GETTY IMAGES 30/77 Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Fabio Borini of Sunderland shoots as he is challenged by Aaron Lennon of Tottenham Hotspur during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland Mike Hewitt/Getty Images 31/77 Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Tim Sherwood greets Sunderland manager Gus Poyet before Tottenham’s 5-1 win PA 32/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Daniel Sturridge congratulates Jordan Henderson after the midfielder's goal GETTY IMAGES 33/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Philippe Coutinho fires in Liverpool's third GETTY IMAGES 34/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Brendan Rodgers looks on from the touchline GETTY IMAGES 35/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Luis Suarez of Liverpool celebrates the second goal against Tottenham GETTY IMAGES 36/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Younes Kaboul scores an own goal in the second minute GETTY IMAGES 37/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Gylfi Sigurdsson scores a late winner for Spurs with a thunderous strike 38/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Christian Eriksen gets to Roberto Soldado's cross ahead of Calum Chambers to tap in Tottenham's equaliser 39/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Eriksen scores Tottenham's first goal after a slip from Nathaniel Clyne 40/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Eriksen battles for the ball with Clyne and James Ward-Prowse 41/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Adam Lallana slips the ball under Hugo Lloris to make it 2-0 to Southampton 42/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Jay Rodriguez steers the ball past Younes Kaboul for Southampton's first goal 43/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Rodrigo Lima celebrates his goal GETTY IMAGES 44/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Tottenham players appeal for a penalty after Harry Kane goes down in the box GETTY IMAGES 45/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Gylfi Sigurdsson sees his header saved late on GETTY IMAGES 46/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Nacer Chadli scores to put Tottenham ahead and give them hope GETTY IMAGES 47/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Roberto Soldado has an effort at goal GETTY IMAGES 48/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Lukas Podolski celebrates with the Arsenal fans after the win at White Hart Lane 49/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tottenham Hotspur's goalkeeper Hugo Lloris takes out team-mate Danny Rose as he collects the ball 50/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny (right) and Tottenham Hotspur's Nacer Chadli battle for the ball 51/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Arsenal's French defender Laurent Koscielny (2nd left) challenges Tottenham Hotspur's Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen (4th left) 52/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tomas Rosicky fires Arsenal ahead with rocket of a shot 53/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tomas Rosicky of Arsenal shrugs off the challenge from Danny Rose 54/77 Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Tim Sherwood and Jorge Jesus clash on the sidelines Getty Images 55/77 Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Rodrigo (centre) slots Benfica’s opening goal past a helpless Hugo Lloris of Spurs last night AP 56/77 Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Tottenham Hotspur's Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen (R) celebrates after scoring his team's first goal from a free-kick during the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg against Benfica GETTY IMAGES 57/77 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Kyle Walker holds off Eden Hazard GETTY IMAGES 58/77 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Eden Hazard rounds goalkeeper Hugo Lloris but misses the open goal GETTY IMAGES 59/77 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Samuel Eto'o and Hugo Lloris exchange words GETTY IMAGES 60/77 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Samuel Eto'o goes down under a challenge from Hugo Lloris GETTY IMAGES 61/77 Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 A relieved Roberto Soldado opens the scoring 62/77 Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 Fabio of Cardiff City clashes with Tottenham's Andros Townsend 63/77 Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 Craig Bellamy fends off Ezekiel Fryers 64/77 FC Dnipro 1 Tottenham 0 Dnipro's Victor Giuliano (left) vies with Tottenham Hotspur's Etienne Capoue GETTY IMAGES 65/77 FC Dnipro 1 Tottenham 0 The starting line ups of Dnipro and Tottenham observe a minutes silence prior to their Europa League Last 32 match due to the recent events in the Ukraine GETTY IMAGES 66/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor scores for Spurs 67/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor celebrates opening the scoring for Spurs Getty Images 68/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor makes it 3-0 with his second of the night Getty Images 69/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Newcastle keeper Tim Krul dives but fails to stop Nacer Chadli's fine effort Getty Images 70/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 The Newcastle players look shell-shocked after they concede a fourth Getty Images 71/77 Tottenham 1 Everton 0 Emmanuel Adebayor celebrates scoring the only goal of the game against Everton AP 72/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Shane Long scores the opening goal 73/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Shane Long celebrates the opening goal 74/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Hull celebrate the opening goal 75/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Danny Rose challenges for the ball 76/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Paulinho celebrates his equaliser 77/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Hugo Lloris looks on 1/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Tim Sherwood has a joke as he helps his gilet onto the fan GETTY IMAGES 2/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Emmanuel Adebayor does his salute celebration after scoring Spurs' third GETTY IMAGES 3/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Emmanuel Adebayor scores from a penalty GETTY IMAGES 4/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Harry Kane and Paulinho celebrate after Tottenham's second, an own goal from Nathan Baker GETTY IMAGES 5/77 Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Paulinho celebrates after opening the scoring for Spurs GETTY IMAGES 6/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Emmanuel Adebayor looks on frustrated during his team's defeat GETTY IMAGES 7/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Stewart Downing celebrates his goal with teammates Andy Carroll and Mark Noble GETTY IMAGES 8/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Stwart Downing puts West Ham two up with a free kick GETTY IMAGES 9/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Mohamed Diame clears the ball in acrobatic style GETTY IMAGES 10/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Andy Carroll celebrates after West Ham take the lead, the goal would go down as a Harry Kane og GETTY IMAGES 11/77 West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Referee Phil Dowd shows Younes Kaboul a red card GETTY IMAGES 12/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Steven Nzonzi and Danny Rose square up after clashing in a tackle GETTY IMAGES 13/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Harry Kane races away from Ryan Shawcross GETTY IMAGES 14/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Marko Arnautovic is tackled by Nacer Chadli GETTY IMAGES 15/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Tottenham players celebrate with Danny Rose after he puts the away team in front GETTY IMAGES 16/77 Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Danny Rose celebrates with Aaron Lennon after heading in Tottenham's opening goal GETTY IMAGES 17/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Younes Kaboul celebrates his goal after putting Spurs 3-1 up GETTY IMAGES 18/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Steve Sidwell and Danny Rose contest for the ball GETTY IMAGES 19/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Hugo Lloris produces a superb save after Hugo Rodallega's header GETTY IMAGES 20/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Harry Kane scores and gives Spurs there lead back GETTY IMAGES 21/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Steve Sidwell puts Fulham level with a chipped effort over Hugo Lloris GETTY IMAGES 22/77 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Christian Eriksen controls the ball despite pressure from Alex Kacaniklic GETTY IMAGES 23/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Tottenham Hotspur's Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen (R) celebrates after scoring his team's third goal 24/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Harry Kane of Spurs is congratulated by teammates after scoring his team's second goal 25/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Stephane Sessegnon celebrates scoring the third goal 26/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Emmanuel Adebayor of Spurs misses a with a penalty attempt 27/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Chris Brunt of West Bromwich celebrates after scoring his team's second goal 28/77 West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 West Bromwich Albion's Czech forward Matej Vydra celebrates after scoring the opening goal Getty Images 29/77 Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Emmanuel Adebayor of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his second goal against Sunderland by saluting manager Tim Sherwood GETTY IMAGES 30/77 Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Fabio Borini of Sunderland shoots as he is challenged by Aaron Lennon of Tottenham Hotspur during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland Mike Hewitt/Getty Images 31/77 Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Tim Sherwood greets Sunderland manager Gus Poyet before Tottenham’s 5-1 win PA 32/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Daniel Sturridge congratulates Jordan Henderson after the midfielder's goal GETTY IMAGES 33/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Philippe Coutinho fires in Liverpool's third GETTY IMAGES 34/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Brendan Rodgers looks on from the touchline GETTY IMAGES 35/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Luis Suarez of Liverpool celebrates the second goal against Tottenham GETTY IMAGES 36/77 Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Younes Kaboul scores an own goal in the second minute GETTY IMAGES 37/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Gylfi Sigurdsson scores a late winner for Spurs with a thunderous strike 38/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Christian Eriksen gets to Roberto Soldado's cross ahead of Calum Chambers to tap in Tottenham's equaliser 39/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Eriksen scores Tottenham's first goal after a slip from Nathaniel Clyne 40/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Eriksen battles for the ball with Clyne and James Ward-Prowse 41/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Adam Lallana slips the ball under Hugo Lloris to make it 2-0 to Southampton 42/77 Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Jay Rodriguez steers the ball past Younes Kaboul for Southampton's first goal 43/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Rodrigo Lima celebrates his goal GETTY IMAGES 44/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Tottenham players appeal for a penalty after Harry Kane goes down in the box GETTY IMAGES 45/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Gylfi Sigurdsson sees his header saved late on GETTY IMAGES 46/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Nacer Chadli scores to put Tottenham ahead and give them hope GETTY IMAGES 47/77 Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Roberto Soldado has an effort at goal GETTY IMAGES 48/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Lukas Podolski celebrates with the Arsenal fans after the win at White Hart Lane 49/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tottenham Hotspur's goalkeeper Hugo Lloris takes out team-mate Danny Rose as he collects the ball 50/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny (right) and Tottenham Hotspur's Nacer Chadli battle for the ball 51/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Arsenal's French defender Laurent Koscielny (2nd left) challenges Tottenham Hotspur's Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen (4th left) 52/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tomas Rosicky fires Arsenal ahead with rocket of a shot 53/77 Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tomas Rosicky of Arsenal shrugs off the challenge from Danny Rose 54/77 Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Tim Sherwood and Jorge Jesus clash on the sidelines Getty Images 55/77 Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Rodrigo (centre) slots Benfica’s opening goal past a helpless Hugo Lloris of Spurs last night AP 56/77 Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Tottenham Hotspur's Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen (R) celebrates after scoring his team's first goal from a free-kick during the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg against Benfica GETTY IMAGES 57/77 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Kyle Walker holds off Eden Hazard GETTY IMAGES 58/77 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Eden Hazard rounds goalkeeper Hugo Lloris but misses the open goal GETTY IMAGES 59/77 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Samuel Eto'o and Hugo Lloris exchange words GETTY IMAGES 60/77 Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Samuel Eto'o goes down under a challenge from Hugo Lloris GETTY IMAGES 61/77 Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 A relieved Roberto Soldado opens the scoring 62/77 Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 Fabio of Cardiff City clashes with Tottenham's Andros Townsend 63/77 Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 Craig Bellamy fends off Ezekiel Fryers 64/77 FC Dnipro 1 Tottenham 0 Dnipro's Victor Giuliano (left) vies with Tottenham Hotspur's Etienne Capoue GETTY IMAGES 65/77 FC Dnipro 1 Tottenham 0 The starting line ups of Dnipro and Tottenham observe a minutes silence prior to their Europa League Last 32 match due to the recent events in the Ukraine GETTY IMAGES 66/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor scores for Spurs 67/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor celebrates opening the scoring for Spurs Getty Images 68/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor makes it 3-0 with his second of the night Getty Images 69/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Newcastle keeper Tim Krul dives but fails to stop Nacer Chadli's fine effort Getty Images 70/77 Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 The Newcastle players look shell-shocked after they concede a fourth Getty Images 71/77 Tottenham 1 Everton 0 Emmanuel Adebayor celebrates scoring the only goal of the game against Everton AP 72/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Shane Long scores the opening goal 73/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Shane Long celebrates the opening goal 74/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Hull celebrate the opening goal 75/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Danny Rose challenges for the ball 76/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Paulinho celebrates his equaliser 77/77 Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Hugo Lloris looks on

Vertonghen played alongside Suarez for several years at Ajax, winning the Dutch Cup together in 2010 and the Eredivisie crown the following year.

The Uruguayan moved to Anfield in 2011 and, after staying at the club following a summer of speculation, has netted 28 goals this term, helping to make Liverpool one of the most dangerous outfits on the continent.

"They are one of the best teams in the league and they show it every week," Vertonghen said.

"It is going to be very hard, especially at Anfield, and I hope we can play as we did last season because we did very well, not the result but the performance."

Vertonghen netted a brace in a late 3-2 defeat at Anfield last term - a fate Southampton suffered at the hands of Spurs on Sunday.

After falling behind to goals from Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana, Christian Eriksen strikes either side of half-time drew Spurs level before Gylfi Sigurdsson's stoppage-time strike secured three points.

"It is always good to come back from two goals down but again obviously it was not our best performance, although it is always a good effort," Vertonghen said.

"The manager told us at half-time that we had to improve, put more pressure on them because they were able to play their game, just passing the ball.

"They were passing into midfield and the runners gave us a lot of problems at the back, so we tried to put more pressure on the midfield.

"We have always had good players and Gylfi did very well when he came on. I think we showed good mentality as a team."

That win coupled with Arsenal's 6-0 mauling at Chelsea has seen the gap to the top four close to six points, and Vertonghen is not ruling out a late charge.

"We will try as many points as possible and, in the end, we will see what we get," Vertonghen added.

"We will not give up until it is mathematically over. We will try to get as far as possible. With the mentality in the team, there is nothing wrong."

Spurs may eventually have to settle for Europa League qualification, which now looks beyond Southampton.

Mauricio Pochettino's side were usurped in eighth this weekend by Newcastle, who arrive at St Mary's next weekend with Jack Cork looking to make amends for Sunday's disappointment.

"We've got Newcastle next week so if we beat them then everything is back to how it was so that's a massive game for us," the midfielder told Saints Player.

"People look at us in the table and say we haven't got much to play for, but we can now try and get above Newcastle.

"Then we look at the teams above them as we've got Manchester United in the last game of the season, so until then we have plenty to play for."

PA

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