Key events
76 min: Chance for Diaz! Saying which, Liverpool almost make it six with another devastating counter-attack. Salah half-volleys a marvellous pass over the defence to put Diaz through on goal, with Forster in no man’s land. Diaz flips the ball over Forster – and the crossbar, just. It landed on the roof of the net.
75 min Tottenham are having a decent spell now. It helps that Liverpool are conserving energy for the busy Christmas period; even so, the response of a few Spurs players, particularly Kulusevski and Solanke, has been pretty admirable in the circumstances.
74 min “The accountants would tell you that Liverpool got Trent on a free and they’ve first dibs on him on another free in January,” says Gary Naylor. “Of course, his wage demands will be eye-watering, but in what world would you let him go? To say nothing of the impact of a local lad as captain will have on the city – even Bluenoses see that.”
I get the impression it’s not about money, in which there’s not much Liverpool can do.
GOAL! Tottenham 2-5 Liverpool (Kulusevski 72)
There’s more than one way to show character. Dejan Kulusevski, who has demanded the ball even more since Spurs went 5-1 down, runs onto a deflected chip from Solanke and volleys sweetly past Alisson. That’s a brilliant finish from an admirable footballer.
70 min “If, and I cannot stress the word ‘if’ enough, Liverpool do win the league this season, this performance has shades of the 4-0 away at Leicester in the 2019-20 title-winning season when it seemed, ‘Yep, this is definitely on’,” says Graeme Neill. “(It was Boxing Day though, rather than ahead of Christmas.)”
I guess that shows how (understandably) nervous Liverpool supporters were about jinxing it because the rest of us knew you’d won the league when you hammered Man City in mid-November. That Leicester game felt more like confirmation that you were among the greatest teams in Premier League history.
I’m not sure Liverpool get enough credit for their performance that season, actually. At one stage they had 79 points from 27 games, which is obscene.
68 min: Double substitution Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones, sent off in this game last season, come on to replace Mac Allister and Gakpo.
68 min Spurs have to play Liverpool twice in the Carabao Cup semi-final as well.
67 min Kuluseveski is still playing as if it’s 1-1, not 1-5, and creates enough room for a cross-shot that is turned behind by Alexander-Arnold.
66 min Gomez makes an excellent challenge to deny Solanke a clear goalscoring opportunity after Kuluseveki’s cross ricocheted off a couple of players.
65 min “Spurs fans should look on the bright side,” syas Peter Oh. “For the first time in one match it isn’t Fraser Forster’s feet that are main talking point.”
64 min Diaz’s volley into the ground is saved by Forster.
63 min: Fine save by Forster! Alexander-Arnold whacks a mighty dipping shot from 25 yards that is pawed away by Forster, diving a long way to his right. It’s no exaggeration to say that Liverpool could score 10 here.
63 min Even as a neutral, this is pretty hard to watch. You have to admire Liverpool’s ruthlessness, not to mention their brilliance, but it’s never nice to see a team – and a manager – humiliated like this.
Spurs’ heads have gone. Gakpo played a crisp pass infield that was taken beautifully on the run by Szoboszlai. That touch put him through on Forster – but this time he squared the ball to give Salah an open goal.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-5 Liverpool (Salah 60)
I told you Mo Salah hadn’t scored yet. Now he’s on a hat-trick!
60 min Before the game, Arne Slot said Liverpool would need to pick the right moments to play through the Spurs press – “or over”. Their willingness to mix play up has been a big part of today’s romp.
58 min: Double substitution for Spurs Lucas Bergvall and Brennan Johnson replace James Maddison and Pape Sarr.
57 min: Great chance for Szoboszlai! This is getting really ugly. Alisson drives a long pass straight through the heart of the Spurs defence to put Szoboszlai clear. He goes round Forster but is forced slightly wide and screws his shot the wrong side of the near post.
56 min Teams often declare when they get three or four goals ahead, especially during a busy period. The worry for Spurs is that Liverpool look like they want a whole lot more.
Kulusevski was really well tackled by Robertson on the edge of the area and Liverpool were off on their merry way. Mac Allister fired an excellent pass into Gakpo, who made ground and gave the ball to Diaz. He returned it to Gakpo, whose low cross was half cut out by the sliding Gray in the six-yard box. Gray also blocked Szoboszlai’s follow-up shot but Salah gobbled up the loose ball from four yards.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-4 Liverpool (Salah 54)
Liverpool are running riot!
53 min “Assuming the second half continues in the same vein, no doubt there will be even more focus on Postecoglou and the narrative about his playing style,” says Paul Rowe. “But what level can any coach realistically achieve if they have to play Forster, Dragusin, Porro, Spence and poor 18-year-old midfielder Gray as a back five?”
I broadly agree with you. But since when did nuance sell newspapers?
52 min Szoboszlai is booked for a tactical foul.
51 min Gary Neville has just highlighted a half-arsed press from Spurs at the start of the second half, with Son particularly slow to put pressure on.
In modern football pressing – the intensity, the organisation, the efficiency – has become a window into the soul of a team. Spurs’ soul is starting to weep.
48 min Spurs look really flat at the start of the second half and are in danger of a good hiding if something doesn’t change pretty soon.
47 min Salah’s ball is slightly too heavy for Gakpo in space of the far post. It was a hard pass to play.
46 min Liverpool get the second half underway. Right here, right now, they’re four points clear of Chelsea with a game in hand. (I still think Arsenal will be the only team who go the distance with Liverpool.)
Half-time reading
Corrections and clarifications The phrase ‘Lads, it’s not about Tottenham’ was a play on the Sir Alex Ferguson teamtalk later made famous by Roy Keane. It wasn’t a suggestion that only lads are reading this blog, that only lads are allowed to watch football and that only lads understand the offside law. Merry Christmas.
“Woof, what a header from Diaz, eh?” says James Humphries. “Looks like his dive’s actually taking him behind the ball, too, so most/all of that power’s coming from the header itself. Wouldn’t tangle with him on Sauchiehall street on a Friday night, would ye.”
I love headers where the scorer has to really strain their neck muscles to generate enough power.
Half time: Tottenham 1-3 Liverpool
Lads, it’s not about Tottenham. Few teams in world football could have coped in the face of a scintilliating Liverpool performance, surely their best of the season so far. And Mo Salah hasn’t even scored yet.
Liverpool are punishing Spurs with leadpipe cruelty. Alexander-Arnold’s long ball to the halfway line was won really well in the air by Szoboszlai, taking Dragusin out of the game in the process. Salah collected, assessed his options and played a simple reverse pass to put Szoboszlai through on goal. He calmly slipped the ball between Forster’s legs.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-3 Liverpool (Szoboszlai 45+1)
Spurs will not be the happier team at half-time.
45 min Two minutes of added time.
44 min Spurs will almost be the happier team at half-time. They looked finished at 2-0 but that goal has changed the mood and given them a bit of hope.
That said, Liverpool still look so sharp in attack. Next goal’s a big goal!
43 min Liverpool thought Kulusevski fouled Mac Allister; the referee and his VAR team disagreed. It certainly wasn’t a clear and obvious error.
Almost straight from the kick-off, Diaz is played through and has a shot blocked desperately by Spence (I think). The flag went up after that but it looked pretty tight.
Alexander-Arnold played a square pass to Mac Allister, 25 yards from goal. He was challenged firmly by Kulusevski, with Maddison picking up the loose ball and curling an early shot past a flat-footed Alisson.
GOAL! Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool (Maddison 41)
Liverpool want the goal to be ruled out by VAR. What could possibly go wrong?
40 min “Liverpool are already offering up some sumptuous Christmas treats, Salah’s dribble and shot and Trent’s pass for Diaz standing out,” says Colum Fordham. “Spurs are fighting back with some verve but the sheer intensity of Slot’s team risks overwhelming them. Can you send Christmas greetings to my fellow Liverpool fans Andy and my brother Kit.”
I can indeed. Merry Christmas to Andy, Kit and indeed all of you who have read the MBMs throughout 2024.
39 min Maddison fires a crisp pass into Son, who slices well wide from the left side of the area. He was under pressure from Alexander-Arnold but it was still half a chance. I mean, not literally; it was probably about 0.1 on the old xG.
After a good build-up involving three or four players, Robertson teased a cross towards Szoboszlai, who jumped with Spence and Gray at the far post. Nobody could get a clear header but the ball hit Gray (I think) and looped up in front of goal. Mac Allister, who had read the play and made a late run into the box, headed gleefully past Forster from eight hards.
GOAL! Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool (Mac Allister 36)
Liverpool have been outstanding and now they lead by two!
34 min Kulusevski takes a quick free-kick to put Son clean through on goal, only for the referee to pull play back because the ball wasn’t stationary. Son was definitely onside as well.
32 min “Do we think that giving the best crosser of a football in the world 20 yards of space to line up a cross is a good idea?” says Felix Wood. “Or is that question offensive and disrespectful?”
As a neutral I’d argue it’s a bit more complicated than that. And I’m certain that we’ll all miss Big Ange when he’s gone.
31 min Gakpo loses the ball to Sarr, tries to make up for the error with a lunging tackle and is booked.
30 min Salah’s short cross pinballs around the six-yard box before being booted clear. Spurs are hanging on a bit.
26 min Liverpool look so sharp. Diaz cracks a snapshot from 20 yards that Forster, diving low to his right, saves at the second attempt.
24 min That’s the same end at which Luis Diaz scored his wrongly disallowed goal last season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s right foot could unlock Fort Knox. He was 35 yards from goal when he received the ball, took a touch and curled a magnificent pass – because that’s what it was – towards Diaz at the far post. Diaz pulled away and then strained his neck muscles like Bruce Banner to power an excellent header back across Forster. The finish was excellent; the cross was off the charts.
GOAL! Spurs 0-1 Liverpool (Diaz 23)
Brilliant goal!
20 min Gray slides Gakpo just wide of his own goal, though it wouldn’t have counted due to an offside in the build up. Spurs were fuming because they thought Szoboszlai had fouled Son 15 seconds earlier.
