Tottenham star Dejan Kulusevski sends Liverpool warning as Man City remark repeated

Dejan Kulusevski is relishing the first of three crunch meetings with Liverpool - insisting Tottenham can "hurt" Arne Slot's early-season pace-setters.

Ange Postecoglou's great entertainers are optimistic they have now finally turned the corner after hitting an impressive nine goals in their past two matches in all competitions.

And Kulusevski, who has led the way with his spellbinding performances, is adamant Spurs have proven they possess the attacking firepower to cause the Reds major problems after also drawing today's opponents in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

He said after edging Manchester United in Thursday's pulsating 4-3 thriller: "I definitely think we can hurt Liverpool on Sunday. The win over United is now gone, it's history, so it's about recovering and hopefully we'll win the next one."

Tottenham, however, have won just one of their past 15 meetings with Liverpool - last season's controversial 2-1 triumph that was marred by PGMOL's inexplicable VAR blunder.

When quizzed on whether the Reds will be out to avenge that agonising defeat in which Curtis Jones was also sent off, the 24-year-old added: "No, I don't think so but I know they're doing really good this season. They're at the top of the league and they will want to keep it going like that."

Spurs intend to set the tone for their two-legged last-four showdown, which will be played in January and February, and Kulusevski is under no illusions that all three matches against Liverpool could transform the trajectory of their campaign.

He continued: "This season we have everything to play for, even in the league. Yes we've lost a lot of points but we are still there if we win a couple of games. We've just got to keep going and it can be a big season for everyone involved."

The red-hot playmaker, who has three goals and one assist to his name in his past four matches, has been Tottenham's shining light amid seemingly never-ending turbulence.

He makes no secret of the fact he relishes games of the highest magnitude and now he is striving to spoil Liverpool's Christmas after recently claiming he takes matches against Manchester City "personally".

The determined Swede added: "These are my games, Thursday and this Sunday. I feel like it's the best pace and it's just fun to play against the best players in the world always.

"I feel very good but I've been doing everything I can to give myself the best possibility of performing like I can and how I'm doing right now. Everyone around me helps me a lot but I've got to do even better.

"I still feel very hungry and I still feel dangerous. That's the plan, to be how everybody wants to be on the pitch, you want to feel comfortable and unstoppable."

Kulusevski is also backing Dominic Solanke to build upon his midweek brace against his former employers this weekend.

He said following the club-record signing's explosive double: "Both of Dom's goals were top class, I'm very happy for him. I still think he will help us a lot because he's a top striker and he's working very hard for the team.

"If he also scores goals he will become a really, really big striker. It's extra special when you play against a team you played for before.

"For sure it's going to be a big game for him but also for us, it's a huge game because we need to win. We've got to go on a winning streak, we've now won two but we've got to keep it going."

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