Details
Premier League Matchday 17
Date: Saturday, December 20, 2025
Kick-off: 5:30 pm GMT (12:30 pm ET)
Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
TV/Stream (UK): Sky Sports Main Event/Premier League
TV/Stream (US): NBC/Peacock Tottenham Hotspur host reigning champions Liverpool in a crucial pre-Christmas clash. Spurs are struggling in 11th place with 22 points from 16 games (W6 D4 L6), while Liverpool sits 7th with 26 points, just two points off the top four.
Both sides have been inconsistent this season, but Liverpool are showing signs of recovery under Arne Slot.
Recent Form: Tottenham (under Thomas Frank): Coming off a disappointing 3-0 away defeat to Nottingham Forest. They’ve won only two of their last eight home league games this season and have lost 10 home Premier League matches in 2025 (joint-most in a calendar year for the club).
Liverpool: Unbeaten in their last five across all competitions (W3 D2), including a 2-0 home win over Brighton. Hugo Ekitiké has been in scorching form, scoring braces in his last two league games.
Head-to-Head
This is the highest-scoring fixture in Premier League history (206 goals). Liverpool dominate recent encounters: Won the last three meetings, scoring 15 goals (including 6-3 and 5-1 wins last season).
Unbeaten in 26 of their last 29 against Spurs in all competitions.
Spurs’ only win in the last 25 league games vs Liverpool came in 2023 (when Liverpool had nine men).
Expect goals – nine were scored in this fixture last season at the same venue.
Team News & Injuries
Tottenham Out: James Maddison (ACL), Dejan Kulusevski, Dominic Solanke (ankle), Destiny Udogie (hamstring), Radu Drăgușin, Yves Bissouma (injury/disciplinary + AFCON).
Pape Matar Sarr also at AFCON.
Richarlison (6 league goals) is likely to lead the line.
Liverpool Out: Mohamed Salah (AFCON), Cody Gakpo (muscle), Joe Gomez (muscle), Giovanni Leoni (knee), Wataru Endo (ankle).
Doubt: Dominik Szoboszlai (ankle – late decision).
Boost: Jeremie Frimpong is nearing a return from a hamstring issue.
Predicted Lineups
Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Bentancur, Gray/Bergvall; Kudus, Simons, Johnson/Kolo Muani; Richarlison. Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Bradley, Konaté, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Jones/Mac Allister; Szoboszlai (if fit)/Wirtz, Mac Allister, Wirtz; Ekitiké.
Prediction
Liverpool’s recent improvement and historical dominance make them favourites, despite their away defensive vulnerabilities (often clean sheet or conceding 2+). Spurs’ injury woes and poor home form under pressure on Frank tilt this toward the visitors.
Expected score: Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool (or a higher-scoring affair given the fixture’s history). Over 2.5 goals looks likely.
