Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool host second place Tottenham at Anfield this evening (5.30pm kick-off) still searching for their first Premier League win of 2017.

The Reds have had a wretched start to the New Year, having gone out of both cup competitions and not having won any of their five league matches.

It means that they have fallen out of the title race and indeed the top four, but they’ll know that victory over Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs this evening could will take them back into the Champions League qualification spots.

However, that won’t be easy against a Tottenham side that have won seven of their last nine Premier League games, and have only lost twice in the league all season.

Spurs are now Chelsea’s closest challengers, and they themselves are nine points adrift, so anything less than three points at Anfield tonight is not good enough for Pochettino’s men if they are to win the title this term.

Thus, it’s all set up to be a cracking encounter at Anfield this evening, and here we’ve analysed the THREE key battles that could decide the outcome of tonight’s clash…

Sadio Mane vs Ben Davies

Sadio Mane’s return from the African Cup of Nations last week will have give everyone at Liverpool a huge boost, as it was clear that they missed his energy and overall attacking quality while he was away.

The Senegalese international missed seven games while on international duty, and the Reds won just one of them, scoring only five goals in the process.

Any side will struggle when you take nine goals and four assists out of the side, but Mane’s absence was felt more because he clearly has a positive effect on everyone else, with Roberto Firmino struggling while he was away, and Philippe Coutinho not quite back to his best after injury.

24-year-old Mane has had another week to rest and recover, and he’ll be raring to go against Tottenham’s second choice left-back Ben Davies.

The Welsh international is expected to retain his place in the side due to Danny Rose’s injury, and even if Pochettino were to change the system to a back three, Davies would be a likely candidate for the left-sided role.

Thus, these two will surely clash at some stage on Saturday and, if Mane is feeling confident and at his best, he will look to try and force Davies wide and then exploit him with his pace – it could serve Liverpool well on Saturday.

Jordan Henderson vs Victor Wanyama

Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson hasn’t quite been at his best in recent weeks, but he’ll have to be to go toe-to-toe with Victor Wanyama on Saturday.

The Spurs midfielder has seamlessly slotted into the starting eleven since his £12 million move from Southampton last summer, and has developed quite the understanding with Belgian international Mousa Dembele in the middle of the park.

They complement each other well, with Wanyama particularly good at the so-called dirty work, intercepting forward passes and breaking up play, while Dembele is very dynamic on the ball and looking to launch attacks where possible.

Thus, Henderson will have to be at his very best to stop these two doing what they want to do in the midfield, especially the stronger and more dominant Wanyama.

Many Premier League games are won in the midfield, and this one looks set to be no different.

Joel Matip vs Harry Kane

Harry Kane is embarking on yet another great season at Tottenham to follow up his Golden Boot-winning exploits last time round.

The England international netted 25 goals last term to help Pochettino’s men finish third in the division – their highest ever finish – and he has already scored 14 this time round in just 19 league starts.

Thus, Liverpool will have to defend extremely well against him, be it in the air or on the ground, as any time and/or space for Kane could spell problems for Klopp’s men.

Fortunately though, the Reds have a defender capable of thwarting Kane in the form of Joel Matip, who made his first league start since December in their 1-1 draw with Chelsea last week.

The Cameroon international has struggled for injury over the past few months, but back-to-back 90 minutes suggests that he’s back to full fitness, and he’ll need to be against Kane.

The England striker is excellent in the air, can hold the ball up, and is deadly from anywhere inside the box, so Matip will have to defend intelligently and aggressively against the Spurs man to keep him quiet.