Liverpool v Tottenham LIVE: Team news and line-ups with Arne Slot’s side set to secure title

Liverpool’s history could have been a burden for any new manager. Slot is conscious of it, but not a student of it. He is set to become the 10th Liverpool manager to win the league, after Tom Watson, David Ashworth, Matt McQueen, George Kay, Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish and Klopp. Only Fagan and Dalglish did so in their debut year in the dugout. The video footage Slot studies, however, are not the nostalgic glimpses into their past. “I don’t think that will help us or me to win the game of football on Sunday,” he said. “It was mainly watching Tottenham and that is I think a bit smarter than watching YouTube clips.”

There was, however, one element of Liverpool’s history that Slot noted upon his arrival. “The good thing is that most managers work here for a long time, so you have a lot of chances to win something,” he said. Not that he needed too many opportunities.

“If you walk through the doors here or at Anfield, you know this club has to win trophies,” he said. Which he will do with a consistency that has eluded the rest of the Premier League, a matter-of-fact calmness and a seamless adjustment to a new club, country and division. Klopp was Liverpool’s last title-winning manager and he was a revolutionary. Slot is an evolutionary. “You work with your players to create a playing style, which we already knew we wouldn’t change too much,” he said.

There will be a lot of Slots at Anfield on Sunday. The temptation is to assume that plans have been altered and flights suddenly booked because of the prospect of seeing Liverpool claim the title. Not so. “They will be here but that’s not because it’s such an important game,” said Arne Slot. Careful planning clearly runs in the family and he added: “In Holland it is a holiday at the moment, and it was one here last week. This game was already one from three, four, five months ago that a lot of people were going to come and were asking for tickets.”

The Slot family’s timing may be excellent. Certainly its most famous member’s seems to be. When Jurgen Klopp announced his departure, the possibility is that it would send Liverpool spiralling downwards. Instead his successor arrived in an off-year for Manchester City, when the points tally required to win the league was lower, when Klopp’s parting gift, Liverpool 2.0, were at the peak of their powers, the elder statesmen of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah not too old, the 2023 signings benefiting from a year at the club.

So the big news for Liverpool is that Trent Alexander-Arnold is fit to start the game. Cody Gakpo is preferred to Diogo Jota in the front three.

Ange Postecoglou has meanwhile made eight changes to his team, seemingly resting his stars for their Europa League semi-final first leg against Bodo-Glimt on Thusday. Liverpool won’t mind that.

Tottenham: Vicario, Spence, Danso, Davies, Udogie, Bergvall, Gray, Johnson, Maddison, Tel, Solanke.

Subs: Kinsky, Romero, Porro, Van de Ven, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Sarr, Richarlison, Odobert.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Gakpo.

Subs: Kelleher, Tsimikas, Quansah, Endo, Jones, Elliott, Nunez, Chiesa, Jota.

With line-ups expected in five minutes, here is a reminder of the early team news…

Trent Alexander-Arnold will be pushing to start after returning from injury last week with a match-winning goal at Leicester.

Joe Gomez is a long-term absentee. Other than that, Slot should have a fully-fit squad to choose from.

Tottenham captain Heung-min Son missed the game against Forest due to a long-running ankle/foot injury. With Spurs’ biggest tie of the season to come in Europe, it seems unlikely that Postecoglou would recall the South Korean at Anfield.

Despite all the speculation around Alexander-Arnold, the news that the club’s two most important players will be extending their contracts has added some gloss to an already brilliant Liverpool season.

Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah will both extend their deals at Anfield past the end of 2024/25, with both likely to be pivotal in the club’s attempts to continue the success of this season – and with Salah presumably soon to pick up all the awards for Premier League player of the year, as well as the golden boot.

For all the celebration around Liverpool, there remain questions over the future of one of their key men – Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The England international has been heavily linked with Real Madrid and a move away from his boyhood club, though it appears nothing is concrete at the moment as the season approaches its end.

Could the Liverpool hero be tempted to stay on Merseyside, or is his heart set on a move to Los Blancos?

If the Reds win the Premier League title today, they will receive a guard of honour from their remaining opponents this season, including closest challengers Arsenal.

Arne Slot’s side will have another chance to win the league next week if they can’t do it today, but you get the sense that a guard of honour from Arsenal on 11 May would be the icing on the cake for many fans!

Even if the Reds get the result they need today, they won’t be lifting the Premier League trophy at Anfield.

Instead, Arne Slot’s side will have to wait until the final matchday of the season to lift the trophy – they play Crystal Palace at home on 25 May.