Two free-scoring attacks, incredible powers of recovery and coaches only too happy to release the handbrake… Tottenham vs Liverpool on Saturday could be a Premier League THRILLER

• Tottenham vs Liverpool is the clear highlight of the Premier League weekend
• Both sides brimming with optimism after positive starts to the campaign 
• Mail Sport’s new WhatsApp Channel: Get the breaking news and exclusives here 

April’s seven-goal thriller between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur went down as an instant Premier League classic.

Three goals down inside 15 minutes, Spurs fought back against all odds and thought they’d stolen a point thanks to Richarlison’s 93rd-minute equaliser.

Wrong. There was still enough time for Diogo Jota to send Anfield into raptures with an even later winning goal.

Saturday’s meeting in north London has just as much potential for goals and drama as two of the Premier League’s most exciting teams at the moment go head-to-head.

Ange Postecoglou has wasted no time in transforming the outlook at Spurs with his daring front-foot style getting the fans quickly on side.

Liverpool have made a confident start to the season but have fallen behind in several games

Tottenham have also shown impressive powers of recovery in a number of games this term

Both Ange Postecoglou (left) and Jurgen Klopp (right) will give their teams licence to attack in a fixture that often serves up plenty of goals

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It’s getting results, too, with Spurs undefeated after their opening six league fixtures and encouraged further by the way they twice came from behind against Arsenal in last weekend’s derby.

Indeed, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are one of the few teams with a better record after five victories from their opening six.

The Reds have constructed a ‘Fab Five’ attack that has the potential to push Manchester City all the way in this season’s title race if they can maintain their winning consistency.

With Liverpool unbeaten in their last 17 league outings – 10 more than Spurs’ current run – something has to give on Saturday teatime at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Neither are short on match-winners. Son Heung-min is stepping up nicely to compensate for Harry Kane’s departure over the summer, with five goals in seven games.

Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski have both been on target, while £40million summer arrival James Maddison looks like he’s been at Spurs for years following two goals and four assists.

They’ve already shown tantalising glimpses of some slick build-up play but perhaps most importantly, Spurs are no longer as ‘Spursy’ as usual.

Under Postecoglou, they have come from behind at Brentford to draw, come from behind at Burnley to win emphatically and scored two injury time goals to beat Sheffield United.

Diogo Jota scored a dramatic late winner as Liverpool beat Tottenham 4-3 back in April

Mohamed Salah leads a Liverpool attack certainly not short on potency at the moment 

Diogo Jota (left) and Darwin Nunez (right) also provide a rich seam of goalscoring potential

Luis Diaz, seen scoring against Bournemouth, also offers Liverpool threat in front of goal

Cody Gakpo celebrates finding the net in Liverpool’s 3-1 Carabao Cup win over Leicester City

Son’s double then ensured they took a point from a pulsating north London derby last Sunday.

It quite possibly shows the foundations of a new mental fortitude given they’d almost certainly have crumbled to defeat in many similar scenarios in the past.

If they avoid defeat against Liverpool, Postecoglou will become only the second Spurs manager in the Premier League era to go his first seven games unbeaten.

Watching brief 

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs LIVERPOOL

Premier League; Saturday 5.30pm BST

Live on Sky Sports Main Event, Premier League and Ultra HDR 

The other was Antonio Conte, who made it to nine games, but what is for sure is that the current approach is far more exciting and popular.

Coming from behind has become a theme for Liverpool, too, this season. While it’s far from ideal to trail in games – as they’ve done in five of eight matches so far – they’ve stormed back to win every single one.

The latest came in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night when goals from Cody Gakpo, Dominik Szoboszlai and Diogo Jota saw them from behind against Championship leaders Leicester City.

That also illustrated Liverpool’s formidable attacking options right now, arguably unrivalled among their Premier League rivals.

Mohamed Salah has put all that speculation over a move to Saudi Arabia firmly behind him with four goals and four assists in seven outings this season.

If he grabs either a goal or an assist at Spurs, he’ll become only the third player in Premier League history – after David Beckham in 2000-01 and Erling Haaland last season – to record a goal involvement in each of their first seven games.

Son Heung-min celebrates after scoring the second of his equalisers against Arsenal last week

James Maddison, who signed from Leicester City for £40m over the summer, has also shone

Richarlison (left) and Dejan Kulusevski (right) are other sharp attacking options for Spurs

Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz have formed an effective front three with the Egyptian, all chipping in with their share of goals.

According to Opta, Salah and Nunez have created a chance for one another every 29 minutes on average in the Premier League this season.

If they don’t get you, Gakpo and Jota are proving more than effective back-ups and the threat of goals from midfield too. Fans were purring over Szoboszlai’s Steven Gerrard-esque rocket against Leicester.

‘The boy is impressive. Really smart, really nice, good lad, close with everybody,’ Klopp said of the Hungarian in his Friday press conference.

‘He’s never played the position he’s playing for us before, but we’ve learned together where it can go. He’s a real joy to work with.’

If Klopp’s side can figure out a way not to concede first in pretty much every game, they’ll have a superb chance of silverware this season. But with such firepower at their disposal, such things clearly aren’t an issue.

The most startling element about this fixture – a meeting of two of the so-called ‘big six’ – is how shocking Spurs have been in the recent past.

Dominik Szoboszlai celebrates after his stunning strike in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Leicester

The thunderbolt was likened to one of Steven Gerrard’s strikes wearing the No 8 shirt 

They have won just one of their last 21 Premier League games against Liverpool, losing 14 of them.

Spurs were still tenants at Wembley Stadium in October 2017 when they achieved that sole victory and since then, they’ve lost eight of 11 encounters.

With the exception of 2013-14, when Liverpool won 4-0 at home and 5-0 away, in general they’ve been tight contests settled by the odd goal. They just tend to fall Liverpool’s way.

Premier League games between Spurs and Liverpool average 2.94 goals. This has all the ingredients to be another classic of the genre.

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