Dier & Son impressed by Reds but are determined to bring an end to Klopp's run

Eric Dier and Heung-min Son both came up with the same word when asked for an opinion on Saturday's opponents Liverpool: “Incredible”.

The Tottenham pair are not the only ones running out of superlatives for the World and European champions, who arrive in north London with a 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League table and aiming to extend their unbeaten run in the competition to 52 matches.

Increasingly, Liverpool no longer look like a great team but a generational one, capable of winning in almost every conceivable manner and with a squad to carry them through a number of competitions, as last weekend's FA Cup humiliation of Everton illustrated.

Spurs, by contrast, enter this weekend on the back of one win in five matches and suffering on the back of the festive fixture pile-up. Harry Kane and Moussa Sissoko, two of their most consistent players, are sidelined after suffering hamstring and knee injuries respectively in the New Year's Day defeat to Southampton. 

Neither is expected to return before April, so Dier and Son are virtually guaranteed to start against the runaway League leaders.

While Dier has evidently viewed Liverpool with respect if not admiration and has no doubt they are the best side in the world, for Son it has been a ­painful experience.

Dier said: “Incredible...what they're doing is incredible. I think at the moment they're the best team in the world. I don't even need to say that — they're proving it every week. The facts speak for themselves.”

Son added: “They have only dropped two points in the League [from a possible 60] and it is an incredible start, an incredible pathway. They will want to try and keep their record and we have to try to stop them. I can't lie, it is painful to watch another opponent doing so well, but for Liverpool fans they are having an incredible season.”

He said afterwards: “[Liverpool] are much stronger playing against opposition that gives them chances of transitions and counter-attack and United, with the limitations they have at this moment, they play a different profile of the game. They try to be solid at the back, try not to give them chances in transition. They kept always three centre-backs in position, plus McTominay and Fred, who were always compact, and [Liverpool] didn't like the menu.”

Spurs should, therefore, be expected to continue with a back-three tomorrow, with protection provided by Dier and Harry Winks. Having kept just one clean sheet in 12 matches under Mourinho, the question is whether his players will have the quality and discipline to carry out their manager's approach against such “incredible” opponents.