Danny Murphy names the only three Liverpool players who would get in Tottenham team
By North-west correspondent Alex Stevens
Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Nathaniel Clyne are the only three Liverpool players who would get in the Tottenham team. That is the view of ex-England international Danny Murphy, who played for both clubs during an illustrious club career. Liverpool may have secured back-to-back Premier League wins but they are still five points adrift of their top-four rivals and have yet to produce a consistent run of form under Jurgen Klopp. According to Murphy, Tottenham are way ahead of their fellow Champions League chasers right now. “I grew up a Liverpool fan, played for them for seven years and only at Tottenham briefly," Murphy
. "But I have to say, Tottenham are in a better position and if I was a Tottenham supporter I’d be very, very excited about the coming seasons and this particular season. “Liverpool, they need a turnaround of players and the reason I say this is somebody asked me how many Liverpool players would get into Tottenham’s first XI. “Here’s my quick answer to that – two, three maximum. And I can’t think of a year in my lifetime where I think that could have been said. And that’s a big turnaround.” Going through his combined team, Murphy began by insisting the number one spot would not be a close contest with Hugo Lloris around. “The keeper’s a no-brainer – even for a Liverpool supporter," he said. “I personally would have [Jordan] Henderson instead of [Eric] Dier, only just. I know Dier’s been brilliant.
“The only problem with Henderson is Dier’s a sitting midfielder, Henderson likes to get forward. What you could do is put Henderson and Dele Alli ahead of Dembele and play [Mousa] Dembele in the holding role. I couldn’t leave Dembele or Alli out. “[Philippe] Coutinho definitely and finally – it wouldn’t bother me not putting him in in terms of [Kyle] Walker’s ability – would be [Nathaniel] Clyne. He probably just edges Walker but both are superb right-backs.” When asked if England forward Daniel Sturridge would make his team if he was fit, Murphy replied: “He’s not, so [Harry] Kane’s in. “I’m going with the same formation [Tottenham use] – you can tweak the three in midfield how you want to do whether you have one and the two but it’s a 4-3-3. “You’ve got [Hugo] Lloris, [Jan] Vertonghen-[Toby] Alderweireld – I wouldn’t split that up – I’d have Clyne in and leave Rose in, he’s a bit better than Moreno going forward. "You’ve got Henderson, Dembele, Alli in a midfield three, all with fantastic energy and athleticism, all can attack and all can defend. You’ve got Kane up top, playing wide and just tucked in you’ve got Coutinho and [Christian] Eriksen.”