Tottenham Hotspur were thumped 6-3 by Liverpool in front of their own fans on Sunday afternoon in a joyfully chaotic contest.
Arne Slot was full of praise for his Tottenham counterpart Ange Postecoglou ahead of Sunday's fixture. "It is a joy to watch them," the Liverpool boss gushed. It looked like a joy to play against Spurs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's delivery for the visitors' opening goal was a thing of beauty, flung from midway through the Tottenham half right on to Luis Diaz's head to give Liverpool a 23rd-minute lead. Andy Robertson's dinked cross soon after was not properly cleared, bouncing up for Alexis Mac Allister to nod in.
James Maddison took advantage of a high turnover to halve the deficit with a goal very much against the run of play in the 41st minute. However, Liverpool restored their two-goal lead before the interval, with Dominik Szoboszlai finishing off a move which he began.
If there had been any doubt over the end result, Liverpool sealed all three points with a crisp counter-attack inside the opening ten minutes of the second half. Despite the best efforts of Archie Gray, Mohamed Salah was on hand to stab in a fourth goal.
Barely five minutes elapsed before Salah scored at the sharp end of another blistering transition, adding a fifth for Liverpool an hour into a typically entertaining game to make it 5-1.
Tottenham, however, would not lie down. The hosts continued to plough forward, leaving themselves exposed on the counter but laying the foundations for Dejan Kulusevski and then Dominic Solanke to beat Alisson, pulling it back to 5-3.
Diaz kickstarted this festive goal-fest and he would end it. Breaking beyond a defensive setup which was purely hypothetical by the 85th minute, Diaz picked out the far corner.
The nine-goal thriller leaves Liverpool four points clear of Chelsea at the Premier League summit while Spurs are languishing in the bottom half of the table.
Tottenham player ratings (4-2-3-1)
Player | Rating |
|---|---|
GK: Fraser Forster | 3.8/10 |
RB: Pedro Porro | 5.0/10 |
CB: Radu Dragusin | 4.5/10 |
CB: Archie Gray | 5.1/10 |
LB: Djed Spence | 5.6/10 |
CM: Pape Sarr | 5.3/10 |
CM: Yves Bissouma | 5.1/10 |
AM: James Maddison | 7.7/10 |
RW: Dejan Kulusevski | 7.9/10 |
ST: Dominic Solanke | 8.1/10 |
LW: Son Heung-min | 6.3/10 |
SUB: Lucas Bergvall (58' for Sarr) | 6.2/10 |
SUB: Brennan Johsnon (58' for Maddison) | 6.9/10 |
SUB: Timo Werner (82' for Son) | N/A |
Subs not used: Brandon Austin (GK), Alfie Dorrington, Destiny Udogie, Callum Olusesi, Sergio Reguilon, Will Lankshear
Liverpool player ratings (4-2-3-1)
Player | Rating |
|---|---|
GK: Alisson | 5.9/10 |
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold | 8.1/10 |
CB: Joe Gomez | 6.6/10 |
CB: Virgil van Dijk | 7.5/10 |
LB: Andy Robertson | 6.9/10 |
CM: Ryan Gravenberch | 6.4/10 |
CM: Alexis Mac Allister | 7.7/10 |
AM: Dominik Szoboszlai | 8.7/10 |
RW: Mohamed Salah | 9.5/10 |
ST: Luis Diaz | 9.1/10 |
LW: Cody Gakpo | 6.6/10 |
SUB: Curtis Jones (68' for Mac Allister) | 6.0/10 |
SUB: Diogo Jota (68' for Gakpo) | 6.3/10 |
SUB: Harvey Elliott (87' for Salah) | N/A |
SUB: Darwin Nunez (87' for Diaz) | N/A |
Subs not used: Caoimhin Kelleher (GK), Jarrel Quansah, Kostas Tsimikas, Trey Nyoni, Wataru Endo
Player of the match - Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
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