By Jordan Carreno

Matchday 5 sees the Reds head to Wembley on Saturday to take on fellow title rivals Tottenham Hotspur for a 7:30 am EST Kick-off.

Tottenham v Liverpool — 09/15/2018 1230 GMT

It is another early riser for us in the Bay Area as Kloppo takes the lads down to the capital. As always all 3 LFC Tampa Bay locations will be open, so coffee and breakfast are once again on the menu. Make sure to come down and join us to get your weekend kick started with a fresh dose of the Reds. Here are 3 talking points to mull over in the early morning haze preceding kick-off.

Post-Break Boom or Bust?

Nothing ruins the spirit of a football supporter like the words “international break.” They never arrive at a good time and usually signal 2 weeks of counting down the days until club football is back. This particular break feels even more useless given its only a month into the new season and on the back of an action packed World Cup summer. Fortunately, as this one has, they all eventually come to an end.

However, the break doesn’t only cause angst for supporters during those two weeks, as they can be massive momentum killers for your team. Given Liverpool’s 100% start to the league, there exists the temptation to worry about the side losing some of their early season mojo. Coming out of the blocks quickly and confidently is even more necessary than usual given the opponent we face and the run of games to follow.

Facing a side like Tottenham coming out of the break should kill off any hangover the players might have. There’s no room to underestimate the opponent as they are genuine title challengers. Hopefully that provides the right amount of focus and motivation to shake off any lingering effects of the break.

Unfortunately, Spurs will be looking at the fixture in the exact same light. Given that neither side has really reached top form yet in the league, they’ll both be looking to use the fixture on Saturday as a platform to reach peak performance.

Wembley Revenge

The team had a nightmare last time out at Wembley — Possibly best summed up by Lovren’s substition within 30 minutes

A year ago the Reds came into Wembley and got ran off the park. Lovren was infamously subbed out within 30 minutes after twice being embarrassed by Harry Kane. This was all on the back of having refused to fortify the back line after missing out on Van Dijk and having only won 2 of 8 games following the 5–0 loss to City. It was definitely one of the most dismal performances by the Reds under Klopp and the low point of last season. Though things did drastically turn around, especially after the January addition of Virgil, it still remains a blemish that needs addressing.

I’ve said it many times in previous previews and pieces; Klopp is a bit of a vengeful man. He holds grudges and always loves an opportunity to make things right. So, it probably isn’t far fetched to assume that he will want to prove a point when he leads the Reds into Wembley.

However, it’s not just the embarrassing 4–1 loss a year ago in this same fixture nor the manner of Spurs’ 2–2 draw at Anfield that will be driving this desire to prove a point. Klopp has never won at Wembley. The famous stadium has been the site of 2 final losses for Klopp — one with Dortmund in the Champion’s League and the League Cup Final against City in his first season with Liverpool.

The club itself is also suffering it’s longest run without a win at the venue once dubbed “Anfield South”, having not won there since the FA Cup semi final in 2012. So, when it was announced that this game would indeed be played at Wembley, I’m sure Jurgen saw it as a perfect opportunity to exorcise the club’s and his own demons. Here’s hoping that extra motivation puts a bit of fire in the bellies of the players.

The September Saga

The upcoming month of fixtures for the Reds is brutal. From now until the next international break at the beginning of October, Liverpool will face 3 title challengers in the league, play their two toughest opponents in the Champion’s League group stage, and kick-off a League Cup campaign against a rival. Whilst these are the type of runs that make you feel nauseous, these are also the type of matches you live for as a football supporter. Getting a whole month of meaningful, high level games is going to be a treat for us as fans but will be a massive test for the team.

Ultimately, this is why Liverpool made the moves they did in the off-season. We’re going to see if those transfers we made are spot on and if the squad is actually up to handling the demands of the rest of the campaign. Winning on Saturday at Spurs will be the perfect launching pad to take the run of fixtures by the horns. A loss could start the snowballing into disaster by the end of it.

September will be the first real test of Liverpool’s summer recruitment

By the time the next international break rolls around we will have a much clearer picture of what this squad can accomplish. Winning out would be an immense signalling of intent, but it will really be about dropping as few points as possible. Normally an away game against a title rival might mean a point suffices; however, with the trip to Spurs being the first game in this intense run of fixtures, a win might be necessary.

Prediction

If you’re keeping track, David and I went into the Leicester game on 2 points. We’ve both picked up a further 2 points in our arbitrary point system (1 point for getting Liverpool’s goals, 1 for getting the opponent’s goals, 1 for getting the outcome correct, 5 points for getting the score and result correct). We both picked Liverpool to win, Dave had Leicester scoring once and I correctly guessed Liverpool would score two. So as things stand we’re level on 4 points. Feel free to join in at home. Whoever has the most points at the end of the season will be lauded with praise for their superior footballing genius.

I took one foray into sports betting in 2013/14 and made a killing betting on Liverpool matches. I literally picked the one season where betting on Liverpool to win every week was actually a profitable endeavor. I’ve literally picked Liverpool to win every match this season so far. Have I stumbled my way into another run of dumb luck? Absolutely. We owe these. We need our Wembley prowess back. Our front 3 haven’t hit full stride yet and will doubtlessly recall the corresponding fixture last year. They’re missing Hugo Lloris and Delle Alli. So with all this in mind I’m reverting to old habits and going with the following; We will thrash them. All of the front 3 score and I debut the Firmino chant in the pub. 4–0!

David’s Prediction: Pochettino sends them out to dive their way to a draw from moment one with Lloris and Alli out. But it doesn’t matter that they get another two penalties against us. Cause as their center backs key in on Salah and Mane, Firmino runs rampant, nets a brace and sets up another two. Reds come out on top 4–2.