Chris Sutton has made his predictions for Liverpool and Tottenham’s fixtures on Tuesday.
’s side face Dutch champions at Anfield as they look to bounce back from their opening Group A defeat to Italian side Napoli.
Spurs, meanwhile, are looking to make it two wins from two in Group D as ’s team travel to Portugal to face Sporting Lisbon.
‘I kept thinking because of what Liverpool have achieved in previous seasons that it was only a blip they were in,’ Sutton wrote in the .
‘But with the way Napoli won 4-1 and made Liverpool’s defence look like tourists on an Italian holiday, it has become more than that. Something’s amiss there.
‘From Virgil van Dijk at the back to Mohamed Salah up front, they’ve not been clicking.
‘Liverpool’s players lapped up the praise when they were on song. Now we need to see how they respond when they’re hitting bum notes. Ajax will have a go.
‘They’re fearless and beat Rangers 4-0 last week. There’s no time to waste for Liverpool to get their season back on track, but I fear Ajax will take something away from Anfield [in a 2-2 draw].’
Quizzed on Tottenham, Sutton added: ‘Antonio Conte doesn’t boast the greatest Champions League record. Not with Juventus, Chelsea or Inter Milan.
‘You wondered whether he was getting his excuses in early when complaining about Tottenham’s fixture congestion before last week’s opening group game.
‘Yet Spurs got off to a flyer against Marseille, an emotional Richarlison scoring twice as he continues to show why he was worth their £60m investment.
‘Sporting are at home in Lisbon so I expect they’ll take the game to Tottenham, but that will suit Conte’s counter-attacking style.
‘They have got the flying arrows who can hurt Sporting and make it two wins from two in their group [with a 2-1 victory].’
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