Harry Kane targets victory at Liverpool after Tottenham end winless run against Red Star Belgrade

Harry Kane

Harry Kane has called on his Tottenham team-mates to build on Tuesday’s thrashing of Red Star Belgrade when they face Liverpool this weekend.

Spurs have endured a miserable start to the season in all competitions, winning just three of their opening nine Premier League fixtures, suffering an early elimination in the EFL Cup, and failing to win either of their first two matches in the Champions League group stage.

However, Mauricio Pochettino’s men belatedly got off the mark in Europe on Tuesday, beating Red Star 5-0 to move into second place in Group B.

Tottenham face a tricky trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday, but Kane – who notched a brace against the Serbian champions – is hopeful that they have now turned a corner.

“[It was] great, exactly what we needed to do. We know we have had a tough run of results and that was the perfect way to respond,” he told BT Sport.

“We wanted to come out of the blocks and press high. Of course we needed to score early on but we were ruthless in front of goal and got the clean sheet as well. The most important thing was the win. To win 5-0 was exactly what we needed.

“We've got a long way to go. Hopefully we can build on this. Liverpool is a very tough game coming up, obviously they have started the season fantastic.

It’s down to us to put in a performance like we have tonight, to try and be on the front foot and score, and hopefully we can win that game.”

This will be the first meeting between Liverpool and Tottenham since the Champions League final, when goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi brought the Reds their sixth European Cup.

Liverpool have not lost at home to Spurs since May 2011 and will be looking to move 16 points clear of the north Londoners this weekend.

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Greg Lea

Greg Lea is a freelance football journalist who's filled in wherever FourFourTwo needs him since 2014. He became a Crystal Palace fan after watching a 1-0 loss to Port Vale in 1998, and once got on the scoresheet in a primary school game against Wilfried Zaha's Whitehorse Manor (an own goal in an 8-0 defeat).