Van Dijk and Liverpool “Ready for the Second Leg” Against Tottenham
Liverpool find themselves down a goal half-way through their two-legged League Cup semi-final against Spurs and are eager to show they can turn the tie around.
Liverpool find themselves behind heading into the second leg of their League Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday evening, but as far as being behind goes, it seems as though it’s a manageable situation.
A 1-0 defeat away in the first leg may not have been ideal, but all they really need at Anfield tonight is a win. Mirroring that first leg result in regulation gives them 30 minutes of extra time in front of their own fans and, if needed, penalties.
Anything more and they take the tie in regulation and advance to the final. It would have been better of course to win or even draw the first leg, but it’s hardly the worst position to be in. And Anfield should give them an edge.
“There are certain games which will always get the blood pumping as a player and a semi-final under the lights at Anfield against a very good team is definitely one of those,” captain Virgil van Dijk reflected in his pre-match notes.
“We understand the challenge we face. The league table tells us they have not had the best of times recently, but this is a team that has a lot of very good players and there is absolutely no chance that we will underestimate them.”
The league table tells us Spurs are 14th, but they’re 14th with an injury crisis and have been a wildly variable side: they’re the league’s third top scorers and have the eighth best goal differential but have just 27 points from 24 games.
In short, they’re a side you can never quite know what you’re going to get from. It was an injury-riddled Spurs side that won the first leg 1-0 early in January while earning just a point in their three league games before and three after.
“We were all disappointed with the way the first leg ended,” Van Dijk added. “That was a really frustrating night, but it was only half-time in the tie and [we are] ready for the second leg—it’s here and we are excited to get going.”
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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