Tottenham Hotspur vs Liverpool preview - AVB gives Soldado no assurances

Posted Saturday, December 14, 2013 by PA

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas is pleased to see Roberto Soldado back amongst the goals but refuses to rule out Jermain Defoe returning against Liverpool.

The Spain forward fired a hat-trick in the 4-1 Europa League victory over Anzhi Makhachkala as Spurs maintained their 100 per cent record in Group K.

"It was extremely important for him to get back to scoring," said AVB.

"I'm extremely happy for him. He's been waiting for a moment like this and it finally happened tonight with a hat-trick. It will be major boost for a player who has been very professional and deserve the respect.

"I don't think he lost his confidence but, as a striker, you have to persist and persist; finishing off the situations you are given and that final touch hasn't been there for him recently. It will be a great boost of confidence for him, bearing in mind he scored three."

Spurs return to Barclays Premier League action at White Hart Lane on Sunday and Villas-Boas says Defoe, who had started the past two games ahead of the Anzhi match, remains in contention to return.

"We have to think about it," he added.

"It's a bit premature. We always wanted to give this game to Roberto after two games in a row for Jermain, who was deserving his chance as well. Now it's about putting the best possible strategy of the game and seeing what we can do.

"What this will help is put the player back with confidence with his final touch and a striker always lives off goals so it's extremely important."

Villas-Boas will assess defender Danny Rose and midfielder Christian Eriksen before deciding whether they should start.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has confirmed captain Steven Gerrard will miss the next four to six weeks with a hamstring injury.

The England skipper limped out of Saturday's 4-1 win over West Ham with the problem and Rodgers on Thursday confirmed that the 33-year-old will not play again until the new year.

"Steven is, as reported, probably going to be up to about four weeks or so," Rodgers said.

"So he'll go through an extensive treatment programme over the next numbers of weeks and hopefully we can get him back that little bit sooner.

"But certainly at this stage, it was a four to six-week injury and we'll see how we look with that."

If Gerrard misses the minumum four weeks then Liverpool will be without his services for clashes against Spurs, Cardiff, Manchester City, Chelsea, Hull and Stoke, as well as their FA Cup clash against either Oldham or Mansfield.

Rodgers did add that Jordan Henderson, who hurt his ankle in a Kevin Nolan challenge last weekend, had been training without problem.