Kane wants revenge for misery of Madrid
HARRY KANE has admitted he is desperately trying to overcome the pain of June’s Champions League final defeat by Liverpool.
The England captain is expected to lead Tottenham’s strike force this afternoon at Anfield in the two clubs’ first meeting since the Madrid final in June. Spurs are desperate to exact revenge on Jurgen Klopp’s rampant side, who go into the match 13 points clear of the north London club.
The odds are firmly stacked against Mauricio Pochettino’s team, who have collected just 12 points from their nine Premier League matches. Despite their woeful form, Kane believes the opportunity to end Liverpool’s unbeaten start will provide extra motivation and could go some way to numbing the pain of the Champions League final defeat.
‘We’ve had a bit of a rivalry over the last couple of years because we’ve been competing at the top of the Premier League and in the Champions League,’ said Kane. ‘That’s what you get with two good teams who play at a high level. You want to win, to come out on top.
‘They came out on top in June. I’ve tried to forget it, to be honest. We’ve got a lot to do to turn our Premier League season around.’
The 5-0 thumping of Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Tuesday will have got Spurs believing again after a desperate run of form.
Klopp’s Liverpool represent an entirely different challenge and although Kane admits confidence has taken a hit recently, he expects Tottenham to approach today’s clash in a positive manner.
‘We’re expecting a tough game but we’ve picked up results there before,’ he said. ‘We have to try to perform like we did against Red Star.
‘A lot of these games are down to who wants it more and puts in more work and effort.
‘Beating Red Star was great but we were expected to win. Not many people will expect us to win at Anfield. If we can, it will hopefully give our season a big boost.
‘Liverpool are not invincible. Any team can be beaten on any day.’
Pochettino is keen for his side to go all out for a result.
‘We will go there thinking that we can beat them,’ he said.
‘It’s going to be difficult. We know each other because we play a lot of matches against each other.
‘It’s about having a good game, doing what we plan to do. Showing better quality than the opponent.’