Tottenham take on Liverpool on Thursday in a crucial game for both sides' aspirations of challenging for the Premier League title. December's reverse fixture, which Liverpool won 2-1 with a stoppage-time goal, ended in an exchange of words between Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klopp as one of the biggest current managerial rivalries heated up. Mourinho told his counterpart that "the best team lost", which did Klopp did not take lying down. Mourinho has been on the winning side against the German just twice in 12 games – the last coming in a 2-1 win for Manchester United in 2018. His team prepared for the crunch fixture with a workout at their training ground in London, with Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and the other Spurs stars put through their paces. Mourinho has received a lot of criticism this season with his team dropping points from winning positions in home games against Newcastle, West Ham and Fulham. The Portuguese has always taken a defensive approach against the big teams this season, hitting them on the break, and it paid off with wins against Manchester City and Arsenal, while they drew 0-0 at Chelsea before Frank Lampard hit the speed bump which saw him sacked this week. It remains to be seen if that is his approach again against the Reds, and whether Gareth Bale, who has played just 45 minutes of Premier League action since early November, follows up his first 90 minutes of the season against Wycombe in the FA Cup with another opportunity. ________________________________________________________________________
