When Harry Meets Rafa: Will Spurs Beat Liverpool and Get Rafa the Sack?

There will never be a better time for a Tottenham Hotspur side chasing the Champions League to travel to Anfield. Between the current injury problems faced by Rafa at Liverpool FC and their current poor run, both sides know that a win in this "cup final" is ultra-important.

The importance of this match cannot be underestimated. A win for Spurs and the Lilywhites will move seven points ahead of Liverpool in the race for fourth with less than half the season to go.

Should Spurs win, it would virtually finish Liverpool's season. Needing to finish fourth, they would find themselves three matches behind Tottenham.  They would need the North London team to lose at least three more matches than Liverpool over the last 16 games of the season, meaning that the Reds would almost have to go unbeaten until May.

A win for Liverpool and they will only be one point behind Spurs.

This has not been lost on the rival managers as they gear up for one of the defining moments of their respective seasons.

However, Redknapp, who has never led a team to victory at Anfield, insisted that he is still very wary of facing Rafael Benitez's side on Wednesday.

"I'd be lying if I said that the absence of Gerrard and Torres won't matter," said Redknapp.

"But they have a strong squad. I have never been there and had an easy game."

Despite the Spurs' 0-0 draw at White Hart Lane last weekend, Redknapp has been able to keep the momentum on his side going. In truth, Tottenham did almost everything right against Hull, barring the score.  The general style of their play was breathtaking at times.

It was a poor result, though.

Last weekend, Redknapp celebrated his 500th Premier League match as a manager, and has yet to secure a victory over Liverpool at Anfield. Winning there is something that Spurs have always found next to impossible, and you have to go back to 1993 for Tottenham's last league win there.

Redknapp will be more than aware that this is an opportune time to end Liverpool's stranglehold, both on this fixture and a top-four finish.

The Spurs go into the match with a mini injury crisis of their own. Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate are still out injured, while Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Aaron Lennon are also out.

Meaning that Spurs will go with the same team that drew 0-0 at Hull, albeit with Peter Crouch coming in for Robbie Keane as Harry looks to use his big man's size and strength against the physically weak Liverpool centre halves.

"When Crouch came on against Hull, and not being disrespectful to Robbie, we suddenly looked more dangerous," stated Redknapp, whose side are unbeaten in six games.

"They put so many bodies in there and it was hard to play through them. When Crouch came on we could miss them out and drop balls up to him and he won headers and we were getting shots on goal."

Life is tough at the moment for Rafa. Not a week goes by where he is not questioned about his future. The fact that he is without his best three outfield players, who also happen to be his only creative influences, will be giving him sleepless nights as he ponders Tottenham's visit.

Rafa knows that the battle for fourth hinges on this game, and he has intimated that he feels they are not too far away from returning to winning ways, having only won six of their last twenty.

"In football every week things can change and with one or two results things can be different," said Benitez.

"When Arsenal came here on 13 December people were talking about them being under pressure but they won and two weeks later they are contenders and can win the title."

With Spurs swash-buckling their way to a draw on Saturday, Liverpool laboured to the same result against Stoke.

It was another poor display from the misfiring Reds, who despite their dreadful run, still find themselves within touching distance of fourth place.

In truth they are still in contention because the likes of Spurs, Manchester City, and Aston Villa are beginning to feel the pressure of expectation, and it is not sitting well on their fragile shoulders.

Even with that bad run in mind, Liverpool have only lost once at home in their last eight league games. So they are not as helpless as many fear, while Spurs have not conceded in their last six games.

Although the lack of Liverpool two world class talents may have something to say on that current home run.

With Gerrard and Torres in their team Liverpool win 78 percent of their matches, without them that stat drops to an amazing 53 percent. That is almost indicative of their season so far, winning 12 and losing 13, and have so far dropped 29 points this year, one more than the whole of last season.

Krygiakos will undoubtedly return to partner Carragher in the middle, the Greek international scored his first goal for the club last week against Stoke and provided a little extra steel that has been missing this year.

Emiliano Insua will be one player who will be delighted than Aaron Lennon won't be playing. The young Argentine is quite slow and tends to be caught out of position, so it will be interesting to see who Rafa chooses to mark Luka Modric. Insua or Aurelio?

Lucas and Mascherano are guaranteed to start in the middle, with Kuyt out on the right while Maxi may receive his first start of the season out on the left.

Alberto Aquilani should come back in behind N'gog and Rafa will be instructing the featherlight Italian to pull the strings and open Spurs up.

The battle in midfield will decide this tie. Tom Huddlestone is suffering with a niggling knee injury and may miss out and that would be a major blow to Spurs should that happen.

The converted centre half is one of the best passers of a ball in the EPL and has provided strength and leadership not found under Jermaine Jenas, his likely replacement.

Either way, it will be one of two plus Palacios versus Mascherano and Lucas in the middle.  Aquilani will drop deep to outnumber Spurs three to two, meaning that Redknapp will either instruct Kranjcar or Modric to drift in or play Keane from the start, and instruct him to play in the hole.

Spurs will miss the out ball that Lennon provides, and it is hard to see them getting in behind a Liverpool team who will stay well back and try to hit them on the break.

A really interesting match that will go someway to defining both teams' seasons.

Liverpool 11/8 Draw 9/4 Spurs 2/1