Champions League Final Special - Tottenham vs. Liverpool

The Champions League final. The ultimate game of the world’s most elite club competition, and the first all English Champions League final since 2007/08, when Manchester United triumphed over Chelsea. We’ve had an incredible Champions League campaign this year and after two superb semi-final matchups, the tournament is coming to a close for yet another year, hopefully in dramatic fashion. In this year’s final we have a side with vast experience in this competition in Liverpool, and a newcomer to this elite stage in Spurs, who are playing their first ever Champions League final. These two sides are rivals in the Premier League meaning they’ve already played each other twice this season, and in these matches, Liverpool managed to come out on top on both occasions. The matches ended with identical 2-1 scorelines, and honestly, given the way that Liverpool played over this period, they might’ve even deserved more from the matches as they played at a very high level. Liverpool managed a combined expected goals tally of 4.10 over these matches while Spurs managed just 1.88 showing that Liverpool were deserved victors in the fixtures. Also, Liverpool have only lost once to the North London side in the last five Premier League matches between them, proving a domination in this fixture that Tottenham will need to overcome in the teams’ biggest matchup yet.

Tottenham (who are technically the home side for this match despite the game being played in Madrid) have had a roller-coaster ride of a season so far, yet they will be extremely pleased with what they’ve accomplished, especially in the Champions League. Tottenham started out rough in this competition, only managing 1 point from their first 3 group games; however, they quickly improved, ending on 8 points after impressive matches against both Barcelona and Inter Milan. From there they beat Borussia Dortmund 4-0 on aggregate at a time when BVB were in good form, before beating Manchester City on away goals after an absolute thriller and then managing the famous comeback against a superb young Ajax team. Overall, they have been an incredibly exciting team to watch over the course of the tournament and although they haven’t always shown their best side, they managed to fight through, which was really highlighted in their 2nd leg match against Ajax. After a disappointing 1st leg that ended 1-0 in Ajax’s favour, Spurs travelled to Amsterdam knowing that they needed a win to keep them in the competition. But things didn’t start well for them, and at half time they were down 2-0 before an incredible second half performance saw Lucas Moura complete his hat-trick in the 96th minute, so that the Lilywhites could secure a place in the final.

Pochettino is one of the best tactical managers in world football which he definitely proved in that Ajax game, and considering that his club have already been defeated twice by this Liverpool side, he’ll have a lot to think about coming into this game. In the two earlier games, Tottenham tested both a 4-2-3-1 and a 3-5-2 with the 3-5-2 producing the far better performance. This could be the best way to go in this match as well, as although it isn’t a particular strong attacking shape for Spurs, it helps to match up with Liverpool’s 4-3-3 and it could limit some of the threat that the Reds would otherwise produce. The three at the back allows Tottenham to congest the central defensive area and this will help to nullify Liverpool’s inverted wingers who love to play almost as strikers at times. It also means that Tottenham will have two wing-backs who will be able to track Liverpool’s full-backs who will undoubtedly be playing high up the field, and therefore the Reds could struggle with creativity. Like mentioned earlier, Spurs will be relatively weak on the attacking end of things if they do go with this formation and they could see themselves become heavily reliant on counter-attacking opportunities, and they might want to use one or two quicker players up top in order to play to the style of the formation. A way to escape this is to potentially push the wing-backs further forwards and this could open up space for more mobile forwards; however, this leaves them vulnerable to the pace of Liverpool’s wide men, and whether Pochettino feels this is worth the risk we’ll have to wait and see.

After his semi-final heroics, Lucas Moura could yet again prove to be crucial. This is because he has a large amount of flexibility across the front line, and he is a very mobile forward meaning he could be threat on the break. In the Champions League, Moura has scored 5 goals, while also making an impressive 2.8 dribbles per game and creating 1 good chance for a teammate. Due to his high creative and dribbling stats, Moura is often used as a wide player, but in this match he could be best used as a central striker (like he has been at times), off either Son or Kane, not only so that he can fit into Pochettino's desired system, but also so that he can use his mobility to open up space for other attackers. Moura should look to drop deep in order to put more pressure on Liverpool defensive midfielder Fabinho, and in doing so, Christian Eriksen could be allowed more space which he usually uses so effectively. Another player who will be vital to Tottenham’s game plan is Moussa Sissoko. Sissoko has had an unbelievable year by his standards, as he has really stepped up his game from seasons prior in order to become arguably Tottenham’s most important central midfield player this year. His strength comes in his ability to complete a variety of different jobs while on the field, and depending on the system that Pochettino employs, Sissoko could be used for multiple purposes. Regardless of formation though, Sissoko will have to do a large amount of defensive work due to the attacking nature of Liverpool, and with 3.5 tackles and interceptions per match in the Champions League he is clearly an adequate defensive midfielder. This could see him play deeper, as the deepest progressor for Tottenham, winning the ball back near his own penalty area before releasing it quickly to help initiate a counter-attack.

Like Tottenham, Liverpool have also had an extremely exciting road to the final, and also one of the most difficult out of any of the partaking teams. In the group stage, Liverpool were placed up against PSG, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade which was instantly labeled as the group of death, and you can definitely see why, considering Liverpool had just two wins and six points from their first five group games. This meant they had one game to resurrect their chances of making it to the knockout stages, and with Napoli as their final opponents (who only needed a draw or possibly even a Liverpool win to go through) it didn’t look entirely likely. Salah scored in the 34th minute though, and they managed to keep this lead till the final whistle, meaning they progressed on away goals, having managed the same amount of points as Napoli. In the round of 16 they came up against a Bayern side who were unbeaten in the group stage. The first leg at Anfield ended 0-0 as Liverpool packed it in through the absence of van Dijk and managed to obtain a relatively favourable result, keeping Bayern from scoring any away goals. They then capitalized on this in the second leg by winning 3-1 in a very convincing performance, which was the first sign that they had the potential to go deep into this competition. Porto in the quarter-finals was a relatively easy contest for them which they managed to win 6-1 on aggregate, but then came the real test. Messi and Barcelona. Heading to the Nou Camp for the first leg, there were massive expectations placed on the shoulders of the Liverpool players, and although they played well, they came out of the match with an incredibly disappointing 3-0 loss leaving them with the near-impossible to do at Anfield. Clearly though, they did manage to beat Barca in the second leg, with a superb 4-0 scoreline in one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the Champions League, which propelled them into the final even more spectacularly than Spurs managed to.

Although Liverpool have beaten Spurs twice this campaign, like mentioned earlier Pochettino has the ability to alter his tactics and formations and this same flexibility might be necessary with Klopp’s game plan so that his Liverpool side are ready for Spurs’ potential. Liverpool will almost certainly continue playing with the 4-3-3 that has worked so well for them, but there are a couple key areas that might need small tweaks in order to be capable of dealing with Tottenham’s shape. If Spurs do go with a 3-5-2/3-4-1-2, the teams’ formations will match up almost entirely when Liverpool are on offence, meaning that Klopp will have to try and work his way around the Spurs system in order for his players to find space. There are a couple ways that they could look to do this. Firstly, Fabinho could drop off, almost in between the two center-backs, allowing him more time and space on the ball, while potentially helping Liverpool to dominate possession and force Tottenham back into their own area. Another thing they could do is something that we’re more used to seeing at this stage with Klopp possibly asking Firmino to come into the midfield, allowing Salah and Mane to take up the only striker positions. This will put a huge amount of pressure on the Spurs midfield, which is already one of their weaker areas while it will also leave Spurs’ central defender without anyone to mark, and the systems will no longer match up as Pochettino would’ve liked.

As far as individual players go, Virgil van Dijk has easily been Liverpool’s best player this season, which is saying something, and up against some world class attackers he’ll need to be at his best yet again. Depending on the fitness of Harry Kane, Spurs have a variety of options up front with Son, Moura, Kane and Llorente all being employed there this season, and one of the best things about van Dijk is that he is equipped in dealing with different types of forwards. Van Dijk is an incredibly strong player, meaning he should be able to handle the physical presences of Kane and Llorente while his pace and ability to jockey his man, means that he usually doesn’t struggle against faster players like Son or Moura either. He is probably the best defender in world football at the moment, and in such a crucial game for his side he’ll have to rise to the occasion in hopes that he’ll win the Champions League trophy on his second attempt. The aforementioned Roberto Firmino will also be important due to his versatility across the frontline. Firmino hasn’t had his best season but his role could be the difference in this game because he is such a mobile player, and his movement allows his strike partners to find space, which is one of the main reasons that Mane and Salah scored a combined 44 goals in the league this season and another 8 in the Champions League. If he does drop deeper in this match, he can really harm this Spurs side by making late runs into the penalty area, and if he’s on his game, he can be one of the most useful players in world football.

In terms of injuries, while Tottenham have been plagued by a number of problems over the course of the season, now that they have had a significant amount of rest time heading into this game most of their injury issues have or are being resolved. Danny Rose and Harry Winks are both back in training by the looks of it while Sanchez, Vertonghen and Kane also seem likely to return from their injuries and final updates are being awaited. This means Spurs should have a fully fit squad, with the main news here being that Harry Kane should be back for contention after a lengthy ankle injury that has kept him out for almost 2 months now. Whether Pochettino chooses to start him though is an entirely different question and although he is undoubtedly one of the best players in the squad, having not played a match since is injury he might be overlooked for players who are in better form. Liverpool are also looking good, as only Naby Keita should be missing from their senior squad after Firmino was confirmed fit by Klopp. Keita does offer a different option from midfield though, and the absence of a player who was really starting to come into form could hurt Jurgen Klopp’s men.

This Saturday, the 27th Champions League trophy will be distributed and it will be only the 4th time that an English club has won this prestigious award, with Liverpool potentially lifting their 2nd Champions League, and 6th European cup, making them the most successful English team in the history of European competition. Liverpool are clear favourites in this game not only due to their experience in this competition, considering that they made the final last season as well, but also because of where the finished in the league this year compared to Tottenham’s domestic season. However, given that this is a final, the better team doesn’t always win, and in a singular match anything can happen, especially when your opponents have the likes of Kane, Eriksen and Son on their team who have all been known to create individual moments of brilliance. All in all, the incredible campaigns that we have scene from both of these extraordinary British sides are both deservant of trophies but in a battle of two talented squads with two of the best tacticians of all time leading their sides, only one team can win. Based on the form in the tournament, I believe that Liverpool will redeem themselves after their performance last year, and lift the elusive cup for the first time since 2005, after a 2-0 win against their English rivals.