Tottenham Hotspur sucked Liverpool into their unique vortex of chaos in north London on Sunday afternoon, but still emerged on the wrong side of a 6-3 defeat.
There were nine goals, seven different scorers and one clear winner from the first whistle. After Luis Diaz’s opener, Spurs were always chasing, but never really in danger of earning any points.
Victory for Liverpool and Chelsea’s stumble against Everton earlier in the day affords Arne Slot’s side a four-point lead at the Premier League summit when they sit down for their Christmas dinner. Tottenham will be having their turkey from the relative depths of 11th place.
How the game unfolded
Tottenham’s under-fire manager Ange Postecoglou had spent much of his pre-match press duties hitting out at his critics. Between the sideswipes at Jamie Carragher, the unwavering Australian admitted: “A big part of our game is entertainment.” Crucially, Postecoglou never clarified which set of fans would enjoy the viewing.
An increasingly angsty Tottenham Hotspur Stadium watched on in horror as Liverpool rapidly established a stranglehold over the contest. The Reds had racked up eight shots (to Tottenham’s one) before Diaz broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute. Sidling on to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s outrageous cross, Diaz headed in unmarked, six yards from goal.
Spurs had a box crowded with white shirts when Andy Robertson stabbed another delivery towards goal, yet none of the hosts managed to assert any authority over the situation. Alexis Mac Allister took advantage of the indecision, doubling Liverpool’s lead with a close-range nod which left Postecoglou shaking his head on the touchline.
Dejan Kulusevski has emerged as one of Tottenham’s few consistent performers this season. The tireless Swede hassled Mac Allister off the ball in the 41st minute, teeing James Maddison up for a goal which came just as any hope of a Spurs fightback had begun to fade.
Liverpool quickly extinguished those faint embers of optimism. Dominik Szoboszlai flicked on a simple punt forward which utterly derailed Tottenham’s hodgepodge rearguard. Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin were left trailing two sets of red shirts as Mohamed Salah squared for Szoboszlai to make it 3-1 on the cusp of half-time.
Arne Slot’s visitors were not in a forgiving mood, but Tottenham needn’t have been so accommodating. The hosts are rarely reserved and were even more wild when pushing forward in search of a way back into Sunday’s contest. Liverpool struck twice in quick succession on the counter, launching a pair of crisp forward thrusts – both of which Salah finished off to make it 5-1 with 30 minutes still to play.
Kulusevski continued his fine individual form by combining with Dominic Solanke on the edge of Liverpool’s area, volleying in Tottenham’s second of a typically chaotic outing in north London. Solanke got on the scoresheet himself in the 83rd minute to bring Tottenham to within just two goals of an unthinkable turnaround.
Diaz concluded the festive entertainment with a ninth and final goal five minutes from time, picking out the bottom corner with a crisp swat of the ball.
Check out the player ratings for Tottenham vs Liverpool here.
In a game which was mentioned once or twice in the buildup to Sunday’s fixture, Luis Diaz has unhappy memories of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The Colombia international was as the epicentre of the biggest VAR controversy in Premier League history when his strike against Spurs in September 2023 was wrongly ruled out for offside.
No amount of miscommunication could hamper Diaz this weekend – although, the Liverpool forward benefited from the lack of dialogue between Pedro Porro and Dragusin, sneaking between the two defenders to head in a deserved opener.
There was so much confidence coursing through Diaz, who proved to be a brilliant nuisance across the pitch from a roving centre-forward role, that he attempted a fake rabona, sending Porro sprawling across the turf with a devilish dummy in the second half.
The royally in-form forward bookended the evening’s goal bonanza, but could have finished with a hatful. Diaz racked up five shots on target – the same tally as the entire Spurs team combined.
Instructing your centre-backs to straddle the halfway line is all very well and good when the quickest player in the league and a World Cup winner are your defenders. However, that high-wire act soon morphs into self-immolation when you line up with a defensive partnership of an 18-year-old midfielder and Radu Dragusin.
Archie Gray did his best to stem the flood of red shirts, but can only haul his angular frame in front of so many shots. Dragusin spent most of the contest helplessly running towards his own goal, constantly chasing after a fleet of red buses he would never catch.
Postecoglou’s gung-ho approach earned Tottenham their three goals, but it also contributed to the six which they conceded. Had Liverpool been a little more ruthless, the scoreline could have moved beyond the realms of tennis to cricket.
Arne Slot came perilously close to taking over Tottenham in the summer of 2023. Ultimately, the former Feyenoord boss opted to remain in the Netherlands, while Spurs plumped for Postecoglou.
Both clearly aspire to an attractive style of football, but Slot has proven to be a deceptively pragmatic manager. Unlike his opposite number, the Dutch coach has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to alter matches with in-game tactical tweaks – however, Slot got his setup right from the first whistle on Sunday.
Dropping Cody Gakpo off the frontline and pushing Diaz into more of a hybrid role in Liverpool’s press left Spurs utterly befuddled. The Colombia international shadowed Yves Bissouma, bottlenecking Tottenham’s buildup and forcing the hosts into aimless punts forward.
Despite scoring three goals, Spurs were limited to just nine shots – only once all season have Postecoglou’s all-out-attacking unit registered fewer efforts in a Premier League game.
