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This preview was written by Brian Judson

Full Record of Spurs -v- Liverpool

Prem          Pl   W   D   L  For-Ag  Pts
Home           7   2   3   2   11-12   9
Away           7   1   2   4    8-17   5
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Total (Prem)  14   3   5   6   19-29  14
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Football Lge
Home (Div 1)  49  24  10  15   73-58  62
Away (Div 1)  49   4  14  31   38-95  24
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Total (Div 1) 98  28  24  46  111-153 86
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Total (Prem)  14   3   5   6   19-29  14
Total (Div 1) 98  28  24  46  111-153 86
=========================================
Grand Total  112  31  29  52  130-182 100
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The visit of Liverpool is always a highlight of Tottenham's season. Down the years we have had many thrilling matches which have left us on the edge of our seats. Liverpool have not been as dominant as they were during the 1980s in recent seasons but there are signs that they are emerging from a long period of introspection and are ready to frighten Europe again.

Last season, Spurs won the corresponding fixture, 2-1. It was played just before Christmas 1998 and came a few weeks after we had beaten the "Reds" in the Worthington Cup. Anderton and Nielsen had gone close to opening the scoring before Fox gave us the lead with a low shot. Shortly afterwards, we had another goal disallowed but lost Steffen Iversen with a serious facial injury in the form of a fractured jaw in the process. Ferdinand came on as a replacement and quickly made his presence felt. But we did not go further ahead until Carragher conceded an own goal under pressure from Armstrong in the 49th minute. Berger scored what proved to be a consolation goal from a free-kick four minutes later. But Liverpool were dreadfully unlucky not to snatch an equaliser late in the game when Owen saw a shot roll across the width of the goal with no one there to poke the ball home.

In the return game at Anfield, towards the end of last season, Spurs were coasting 2-0 ahead following another own goal by Carragher and Iversen notched a second. But Taricco was then dismissed following two bookings. Spurs reshuffled their defence, giving King his debut, but Walker was adjudged to have brought down Riedle and Redknapp scored from the spot. Ince headed an equaliser in the 77th minute and two minutes later McManaman scored the winner.

It seems strange to remember that the first occasion I saw Liverpool was when they were still in Division 2 during season 1961-62. They were going for promotion and, with Spurs away, at Burnley, on 17th March 1962, I went to Brisbane Road to watch Leyton Orient draw 2-2 with Liverpool. This was my first sight of Shankly's Liverpool team that contained players such as Ron Yeats, Roger Hunt, Ian St John, Peter Thompson, Tommy Lawrence and Gerry Byrne. They were not quite the polished Liverpool side they later became as Leyton Orient gave them many problems. It was a fantastic achievement for the East London club to win promotion to the old Division One as runners-up to Liverpool that season and it is sad to see them fighting to avoid relegation to the Conference.

I remember the first time I saw Liverpool play at White Hart Lane. It was Easter Monday 1963. We had been thrashed at Anfield 5-2 on Good Friday but come the Monday, we thrashed them 7-2, Greaves scoring 4 of them, including one from a penalty. It was a pity that Match of The Day was not then in existence as that game would have probably featured as the star match. Greaves was in incomparable form that day. He was unlucky he did not complete a second hat-trick and Lawrence was very unlucky to concede seven goals that day.

But, undoubtedly, the best game I have ever seen Spurs and Liverpool produce was the FA Cup 6th Round replay at Tottenham on March 16th 1971. We lost that match 1-0 but it was a game that swung from end to end throughout the 90 minutes. I have rarely seen Clemence in such defiant form as he was that night. I could never understand why Shilton was preferred to Clemence as I have always thought Clemence was the slightly better goalkeeper at his peak. Certainly on that night, Spurs could have played for a month and still not beaten Clemence.

The one thing I mourn about the transition to all-seater stadia is the demise of the Kop end at Liverpool. To my mind, there was no finer sight to see than the whole Kop swaying as they sang 'You'll Never Walk Alone!' when Liverpool came out before the start of a match. The din seemed to petrify most teams that visited Anfield. Those of us who have been to Anfield will know how electric the atmosphere used to be when the Kop was in full flow.

Whilst Liverpool are not quite the force they used to be, they are clearly on their way back. Patrik Berger looks set to become the new darling of the Kop, alongside Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. When I have seen Berger this season on TV, he has been demonstrating the lost art of the winger that we used to see far more frequently at one time before Ramsey abolished them. Berger seems to be more aware of what he intends to do that McManaman ever did. It was always fairly easy to stifle Liverpool as McManaman frequently ran into blind alleys.

So what will be the outcome of tomorrow's match? Sadly, I have to say I can only envisage a Liverpool win. We are only too well aware of the downside to Tottenham's squad. We are clearly still in a transitional period and looking likely to remain so for some time to come. Campbell and Perry will have to be at their very best to foil Owen and Fowler. Hopefully, Carr can combat the threat posed by Berger. But with the paucity of our striking reserves still all too obvious, I expect Sami Hypia will be able to lock the Liverpool defence up. Hypia looks to be the best Liverpool defender since Alan Hansen at his peak. Westerveld seems to be the answer to Liverpool's long-standing goalkeeping problems since Bruce Grobbelaar left Anfield under a cloud. The only question, I fear, is how many Liverpool will bother to score. I hope I am wrong but I fear that if Liverpool take the trouble to do so, we could be on the wrong end of another thrashing.

Cheers, Brian

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