Six Liverpool goals, some wonderful football and top of the league. It’s beginning to look a Slot like Christmas.
A game beyond entertaining and a brace for both Luis Diaz and Mo Salah saw Liverpool show no mercy to a Spurs side that were, at times, like rabbits in the headlights. Arne Slot’s men swarmed all over a Tottenham side from the outset, the only surprise being that it took over 20 minutes for Liverpool to take the lead.
It was a sublime cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold that set the ball rolling. A delivery just like the one that Diaz was so controversially denied the opening goal in this fixture last season, met perfectly with his head, giving hapless Forster no chance in goal. Liverpool though should have been further ahead at this point, as Salah missed when presented with the ball by Forster in the opening minutes and also saw a right foot shot crash off the cross bar after dazzling footwork that bamboozled the Spurs defence. However, it didn’t take long for the second to arrive – another header, this time Alexis Mac Allister nodding in from close range.
The Lillywhites were shell-shocked, but looked as though they’d somehow go in just two-one down at half-time. Mac Alister presented Maddison with the ball near the edge of the box, as Alisson was given no chance from a smart finish. Yet, the first-half scoring wasn’t over, as Liverpool soon restored their two-goal lead, Dominik Szoboszlai finishing from close range having been set up by Salah.
Salah himself soon got on the scoresheet from barely a yard out, with less than an hour on the clock. The ball kindly fell into his path as the hosts were carved open by a relentless Liverpool press and smooth forward passing. Just after the hour, Szoboszlai repaid the Egyptian with an assist as Salah, this time finishing with his right foot, added Liverpool’s fifth. In so doing, the African star, surpassed the legendary Billy Liddell’s Liverpool scoring total. With 229 goals, he is now fourth on the all-time scoring list, needing just 12 more to equal the total of Gordon Hodgson.
5-1 up and, having been ruthless and superb in equal measure, Liverpool, according to a slightly-agitated Slot post-match, ‘stopped running’. Spurs were suddenly freed of the responsibility to play with a sense of professional purpose, saw an opening and soon scored twice to put a gloss on the scoreline that they really didn’t deserve, Kulusevski and Solanke adding to a tally that was beginning to resemble a basketball score. Thankfully, before nerves began to properly settle in, Diaz struck again from yet another Salah assist.
It was quite a remarkable game of football that saw nine goals and saw Liverpool produce some of their best football of the season. Of course, there’ll undoubtedly be some annoyance that the scoreline flattered Spurs. As in truth, Liverpool could so easily have reached into double figures. They have, though, reached the Premier League summit with a four-point cushion and a game in hand – a Christmas present that few Liverpool fans would have anticipated a few short months ago.
