Liverpool vs Tottenham LIVE: Premier League team news and line-ups as James Maddison benched and Mohamed Salah starts

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk is fit to start at Anfield, while Mohamed Salah is back in the starting line-up. Conor Bradley returns to the bench.

Totteham start without James Maddison again, with the England international on the bench. Ange Postecoglou makes one change from the defeat against Chelsea, with Rodrigo Bentacur replacing Richarlison.

Liverpool XI: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, van Dijk, Robertson, Elliott, Endo, Mac Allister, Salah, Gakpo, Diaz

Tottenham XI: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Emerson, Bissouma, Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski, Son, Johnson

Postecoglou believes he still has the “support” of the Tottenham board and believes the club have “bought into my vision”.

“It’s not about patience, it’s about belief that I need to keep working and taking us forward in a manner that there is belief in the club that they should continue to support my vision,” he said.

“I’m not going to do it on my own, that’s for sure. I never have. Wherever I’ve been, I’ve had great support and right now I have all the support I need.”

Ange Postecoglou insists he still believes Tottenham are going in the right direction despite a run of three defeats in a row.

“Will we be ready in 12 months’ time? That’s the challenge I’ve got,” he said.

“What I keep trying to emphasise is that for a club like this, wherever you think you are in your rebuilding cycle, you have to try and win something every year. That’s part of the responsibility.

“I can’t sit here and say we’re going to finish fourth, fifth, sixth and then in the third or fourth year we’re going to win something. I’m not built that way.

“I want to win things all the time. We start next year trying to have success, but the underlying thing is growth. We’ve got to have growth.

“Belief is the word. I want people to believe we can be successful.”

Jurgen Klopp insisted any tension with Mohamed Salah is over as the Liverpool manager dismissed their touchline bust-up at West Ham as “a non-story”.

He added: “If we wouldn’t know each other for that long I don’t know how we would deal with it but we know each other for that long and respect each other.”

Salah will enter the last year of his contract in the summer and Liverpool expect the Egyptian to stay, reports Richard Jolly.

While Klopp will not be involved in the decision, Klopp said: “Mo as a player is incredible and I don’t think I should speak about that.

“Other people will decide that, especially Mo, I don’t have any signs it will not be like that. I just try to prepare the basis for the future.”

Jurgen Klopp took a parting shot at TNT Sports by declaring that he will never watch the channel again in the future and told them to remove him from their list of subscribers.

The Liverpool manager joked that Amnesty International should get involved because he believes scheduling their games at 12.30pm on a Saturday is a crime and claimed his side have had the fastest turnaround of matches in the global game.

Klopp was long a critic of BT Sport – TNT’s predecessor – for regularly scheduling Liverpool in Saturday’s early kick-off slot and highlighted their recent run of fixtures, from a Thursday away game in Atalanta to a Sunday match at Fulham, a Wednesday night Merseyside derby and the first game on Saturday, when they drew 2-2 at West Ham to in effect end their title challenge.

The Premier League is heading for a classic title race, with Manchester City and Arsenal set for a thrilling battle as we enter the final weeks of the season.

But what was shaping up to be a three-way race for the title is now down to two challengers. Liverpool dropped points for the fourth time in five Premier League games as they were held to a 2-2 draw at West Ham, after a 2-0 defeat at Everton all but eliminated Jurgen Klopp’s from the title race.

It means Arsenal are the closest challengers to City’s crown and Mikel Arteta’s side took a big step to securing a first Premier League title in 20 years as they held on to claim a vital 3-2 win at Tottenham in a chaotic north London derby. A 3-0 win over Bournemouth maintained their winning run as the Gunners stayed top.

But the champions have another game in hand after Erling Haaland scored four in a 5-1 win against Wolves on Saturday, as Guardiola’s side aim to win a fourth league title in a row – a feat that has never been achieved in the history of English football, and the title is still in their hands.

So, with three weeks to go, which team has the best fixtures and who has the hardest run of games to end the season? Here’s where the title could be won and lost…

Can Tottenham qualify for the Champions League?

Aston Villa could be 10 points clear of Spurs in the race for the top-four, the final Champions League place with Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool already securing their spots.

That’s if Unai Emery’s side beat Brighton away from home this afternoon. It would give Villa 70 points from 36 games play. They then host Liverpool next Monday, before facing Crystal Palace away on the final day of the season.

After three defeats in a row to Newcastle, Arsenal and Chelsea, the maximum Spurs can get this season is 72 points – and that’s if they win their remaining games of the season.

After facing Liverpool at Anfield, Tottenham host Burnley and Manchester City and then travel to Sheffield United on the final day. Villa are in the driving seat, that’s for sure.

Even with a microphone in front of him, Ange Postecoglou was barely audible as the Tottenham manager slumped into the press conference room at Stamford Bridge and took responsibility for his side’s third defeat in a row. “I feel like we’ve lost a bit of belief and conviction in our football and that is on me to change that,” Postecoglou mumbled, head bowed. “We were nowhere near good enough.”

It was not unusual to see the Australian so despondent following a defeat. Rather, what felt significant from this 2-0 defeat at Chelsea, aside from how lacklustre Tottenham were, was how angry Postecoglou had been on the touchline. The Spurs boss seethed at his players and his frustrations boiled over during his round of post-match TV interviews when pressed on why his team were not responding to his instructions. “Come on, mate, we didn’t play well,” Postecoglou snapped. “What do you want, for me to write you a dossier on where it went wrong?”

Well, maybe. There’s certainly plenty to fill it with, given Tottenham’s current form and their propensity to concede goals from set pieces, with 22 now in the Premier League this season, the third-most behind Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest. Postecoglou’s post-match press conference lasted less than three minutes, during which he still found the time to question Tottenham’s mindset, attitude, the confidence of his midfield, and the effectiveness of his own messaging. In fairness, Postecoglou had warned that Spurs have “far more important issues” than defending set pieces and he did not hesitate to lay them out on the table.

Jurgen Klopp was standing in part of his legacy as his thoughts turned to another aspect of it. Now, the off-field decisions are being taken by others. “I just try to provide the basis for the future,” he said. Liverpool’s deluxe training ground is part of it. So is the team that he has reshaped in the last couple of years. There is an added element of uncertainty with his imminent departure, the possibility that his side will be broken up. But Klopp is confident that Liverpool 2.0 will not die, that the project will continue without its architect.

“The basis we created is really good and that was the job, I thought,” he said. “Liverpool 2.0 does not end with me. It’s just the new Liverpool. It’s just the start. They can make the next steps.” This season has been a leap forward. Qualification for the Champions League had long looked a formality but became a mathematical certainty on Thursday. “It is an achievement,” Klopp said. “Does it feel for everyone like that? Maybe not.”

Match preview by Richard Jolly