Liverpool vs Tottenham Hotspur Prediction: EFL Cup Round 3 (Sept 16, 2026)

By Cole Gallagher / September 3, 2026

Liverpool host Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield in the standout tie of EFL Cup Round 3, and the schedule reflects it — this is the only match in the round selected for both Sky Sports and ITV, with an 8pm kick-off. Two of the biggest names in English football in a straight knockout: single leg, no replay, and one of them is out of the competition by around 10pm. Here is the full top betting sites breakdown for the tie, part of our ongoing EFL Cup Round 3 coverage.

Odds Comparison

Team Analysis

Liverpool

Anfield in a knockout tie needs no introduction, and Liverpool have the deepest squad in this fixture. The counterweight is the calendar: Liverpool are in the Champions League this season, one of the eight clubs whose European commitments meant the EFL had to keep them apart in this draw and pre-decide home or away before the balls came out. That is precisely why a fixture of this magnitude is even possible in Round 3, and it is also why the Liverpool line-up is unlikely to be the one that starts on a weekend.

Key Storyline: Champions League football either side of this makes rotation near-certain, so the question is how deep Liverpool go into the squad at Anfield

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs come in with a meaningful structural advantage that is easy to miss: they are not among the eight Champions League or Europa League clubs, which is exactly why the draw was allowed to pair them with Liverpool in the first place. No European midweek means no reason to protect players, and Tottenham arrive with Round 2 already in the legs after a comfortable win over Charlton. A cup run has been a recurring theme of Spurs seasons, and this is a competition they take seriously.

Key Storyline: Tottenham can name a full-strength side while Liverpool almost certainly cannot, which is the single most important fact about this tie

Key Betting Angles

On name value this looks like a Liverpool tie. On squad availability it is much closer than that, and the market may not fully reflect the asymmetry until team news lands on the day. Liverpool rotating heavily against a Spurs side with a clear week is the classic Round 3 shape, and it is the reason the underdog price here is worth a serious look rather than a glance.

Both teams to score is an obvious market in a fixture between two sides that historically produce open, transitional games, and a rotated Liverpool back line strengthens that case. Because there is no replay, extra time is live, and in a tie this close the gap between the 90-minute result and the “to qualify” market is where the value usually sits. Cards and total shots also tend to run high in fixtures with this much profile.

We are tracking the full EFL Cup Round 3 slate, plus everything else on the board, over on worldcupbetting.ca.

Our Prediction

Cole’s Pick: Tottenham Hotspur to advance

This is the one Round 3 tie where we are willing to go against the bigger name. The rotation asymmetry is unusually clean — Liverpool have Champions League football to manage, Tottenham do not — and Anfield’s aura matters less when the home team is fielding its second string. Expect goals and expect it to be close, with a real chance of extra time.

Confidence: low-medium, a contrarian lean built on the fixture calendar rather than on quality, and Anfield can still swallow up a game plan

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Cole Gallagher

Cole Gallagher covers soccer betting for WorldCupBetting.ca, specialising in match predictions, odds analysis and tournament futures. Based in Toronto, he has followed the Canadian men’s national team since their 2022 qualifying campaign and brings a line-shopping, data-first approach to every pick.