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Tottenham’s chances vs Liverpool in Champions League final depend on ONE player - Cundy
TOTTENHAM’s chances of beating Liverpool in the Champions League final largely depend on Harry Kane, says former Spurs defender Jason Cundy.
Kane has not played since early April due to an ankle injury he suffered in the first leg of the quarter-final win over Manchester City.
The England captain has declared himself fit for his side's first ever Champions League final.
However, Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was not sure at his press conference this week if Kane could play from the start.
Cundy says a good way of thwarting Liverpool’s high press is by playing long-ball football.
He may play Harry Kane because of that because sometimes you have to bypass the press
However, he admits that is only possible if Kane plays, as the likes of Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min are considerably shorter than him.
“They’re up against a side that will press high up the pitch, that will look to try and nick the ball and look to try to squeeze them high,” Cundy said on talkSPORT.
“Liverpool will play with this high energy, you know how Liverpool are going to play. Spurs have to make sure that they are prepared for that.
“Maybe be slightly compact and tight at the beginning of the game.
“I’m not saying sit deep, but Liverpool are really difficult to play against when they play that way.
“They may have to look, Spurs, to try and go through the midfield, they can’t always go long.
“If it’s Son and Lucas Moura [up front], there’s not a lot of height there.
“So what you don’t want to be doing is going long because you’ll get squeezed.
“He may play Harry Kane because of that because sometimes you have to bypass the press.
“To bypass the press, sometimes the only way to do it is to go long.
“That plays into Liverpool’s hands if you’ve got [Virgil] Van Dijk up against Son or Lucas Moura.
“And then Liverpool win the ball back again and then they start again.
“It must be really difficult for Pochettino to make this call because it’s got to be right for the team.
“How many weeks has he been out now? Seven, eight weeks. That’s a long time.”