Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool: Four key battles in the Champions League final including Harry Kane vs Virgil van Dijk

Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool: Four key battles in the Champions League final including Harry Kane vs Virgil van Dijk
Tottenham and Liverpool will do battle for the right to call themselves champions of Europe on Saturday – a match you can listen to LIVE on talkSPORT.Both teams made it to the Champions League final in dramatic circumstances with Liverpool beating Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate, while Spurs completed a stunning second-half turnaround at Ajax.

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Liverpool completed the biggest comeback in the competition’s history when they beat Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield

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Tottenham scored three goals in the second-half of their second leg at Ajax

It’s the first time two Premier League sides will face each other in the final of Europe’s premier club competition since 2008 when Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow.But where will the 2019 final be won and lost?talkSPORT.com have identified FOUR key battles between Tottenham and Liverpool players ahead of Saturday’s game.

Christian Eriksen vs Fabinho

It may not be the glamour duel in the final but you could make a very strong case that Christian Eriksen’s battle against Fabinho is the most important one on the pitch.Spurs fans will say Eriksen hasn’t been at his best this season but he’s their most creative player and is capable of that magic pass or shot that could win what is expected to be a tight game. But Fabinho will be out to stifle him.

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Fabinho was in brilliant form in the semi-finals, particularly in the Anfield game

The Brazilian was tasked with marking Lionel Messi in the semis and did a pretty good job even though the Barca superstar scored two goals in the first leg at the Camp Nou.However, Messi was a shadow of the great player he is at Anfield and a lot of that was thanks to Fabinho’s tireless efforts. If you can stop Messi, then you shouldn’t fear anyone.

Kieran Trippier vs Sadio Mane

By his own admission, Kieran Trippier has struggled to replicate the splendid form he showed in the 2017/18 season and the 2018 World Cup and his latest setback saw him miss out on a place in England’s final Nations League squad.The right-back has made a few noticeable mistakes this season including an embarrassing own goal in a Premier League defeat at Chelsea in March.Meanwhile, Liverpool forward Sadio Mane has been at the top of his game this season, winning the Golden Boot alongside team-mate Mohamed Salah and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 22 goals.

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Mane and Trippier have had contrasting seasons

Spurs fans may worry about this duel and Mauricio Pochettino could even alter his line-up to make sure there aren’t too many one-on-ones between Trippier and Mane.

Heung-Min Son vs Trent Alexander-Arnold

But Liverpool may have to worry about the left hand side of their opponents too with Heung-Min Son likely to be up against Trent Alexander-Arnold.Alexander-Arnold is brilliant going forward and Spurs will have to keep an eye on his devastating crosses from the right. It was his quick thinking that saw him provide an enterprising assist for Divock Origi’s second-half strike which was the decisive goal in sending Liverpool through.However, the 20-year-old is not the finished article defensively and he can be got at by the South Korean who has had another great campaign at Spurs.

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Son has scored crucial goals on Spurs’ route to the final

Son has scored 20 goals in all competitions this season and there were even calls for him to be nominated for the PFA Player of the Year award.

Harry Kane vs Virgil van Dijk

This is the big duel in the final as Harry Kane and Virgil van Dijk are of equally huge importance for their respective clubs.It looks as though Kane will be fit to start the final despite his ankle injury so he’ll probably do battle with PFA Player of the Year Van Dijk.

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Van Dijk and Kane are likely to come up against each other when England face the Netherlands in the Nations League on June 6

Stats suggest the last player to successfully dribbled past centre-back Van Dijk in March 2018 but Kane is a constant threat.The England striker may latch himself on to Van Dijk’s centre-back partner, which is likely to be Joel Matip, in an attempt to get more joy but there will be occasions when Van Dijk deals with the Spurs forward so the phrase ‘clash of the titans’ will be appropriate in this case.

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