Tottenham pick up new injury before Liverpool – but Maddison issue played down

Tottenham will be without four players for Saturday’s visit of Liverpool, with new doubts over another, but James Maddison has avoided injury.

Two of the four sides still unbeaten in this season’s Premier League face off on Saturday evening, with Liverpool heading to Tottenham.

The Reds do so after a League Cup clash with Leicester on Wednesday night, but Spurs are already knocked out of the cup after a second-round defeat to Fulham.

An early exit allows Ange Postecoglu’s side more time to recover and prepare following their 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the weekend.

Spurs’ stalemate in the North London derby brought a new injury concern to add to four existing absentees, with winger Brennan Johnson suffering a hamstring issue.

The summer signing from Nottingham Forest could join Rodrigo Bentancur (ACL), Ryan Sessegnon (hamstring), Bryan Gil (groin) and Ivan Perisic (ACL) on the sidelines.

But while there were fears over an ACL injury for Maddison during the draw at the Emirates, the midfielder came through and has avoided issue.

That is according to Postecoglu, who provided an update on Johnson, Maddison and Heung-min Son after Sunday’s game.

“Not sure with Brennan, it seems like he felt something, I think his hamstring. We’ll assess that,” he told reporters.

“Madders and Sonny weren’t 100 percent going into the game but they got through it, which suggests that it’s nothing serious.”

Tottenham could see midfielder Giovani Lo Celso return to the fold against Liverpool, having missed almost a month due to a hamstring injury.

As it stands, there are no other fitness concerns for Spurs, with Postecoglu set to name his strongest possible side after an uninterrupted week.

Guglielmo Vicario is a guaranteed starter in goal, with Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie making up the back four.

Yves Bissouma is in fierce form in midfield and should start next to Pape Matar Sarr, with Maddison further forward in a 4-2-3-1.

The absence of Johnson would see either Richarlison or Manor Solomon come in, with Son and Dejan Kulusevski otherwise key starters in attack.

Son is Spurs’ top scorer this season with five, while Maddison has been involved in the most goals, scoring two and assisting four in seven outings since his move from Leicester.

Probable Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Sarr; Kulusevski, Maddison, Solomon; Son