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Tottenham 3 Liverpool 6: Slot’s team top the league at Christmas, gray day, clever Szoboszlai

Posted on by Taylor Reeves
Tottenham 3 Liverpool 6: Slot’s team top the league at Christmas, gray day, clever Szoboszlai

Liverpool beat Tottenham to cement their place at the top of the Premier League at Christmas.

Luis Diaz opened the scoring at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium from a precise cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold before Alexis Mac Allister doubled the lead from close range.

The home side hit back with a curling shot from James Maddison, but Arne Slot’s side showed their class with a quick counter-attack just before half-time, converted by Dominik Szoboszlai after winning the first half, and two second-half goals from Mohamed Salah .

Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke scored twice for the home side before Diaz struck again late on, although the result had already been decided.

The 6-3 win leaves Liverpool four points clear of second-placed Chelsea, with a total of 39 points and one game remaining before the Boxing Day games. Tottenham remain 11th.

Here, our writers break down the game’s key talking points…

Liverpool outperform Spurs with a great start

Before this game, Tottenham were the fast starters in the Premier League and Liverpool had started slowly in recent games.

Tottenham had scored nine goals in the first 15 minutes of league games this season, more than any other team in the division. They have also conceded the fewest goals during this time, just one.

But Slot’s team didn’t read the script and instead started much faster than their opponents. They didn’t give the home team a moment to breathe from the first whistle as Diaz and Szoboszlai led a relentless press.

This allowed Liverpool to gain momentum and Ange Postecoglou’s team often had to go long distances to regain possession of the ball.

Salah had five attempts on goal – including one that hit the crossbar – before the 20-minute mark, although he failed Fraser Forster’s test.

With Diaz’s opening goal in the 23rd minute, all thoughts of Liverpool not scoring at the top disappeared. After half an hour, Liverpool had managed 10 shots and 23 touches in the opposition area, compared to Tottenham’s two shots and four touches in the penalty area.

Spence and Gray are put to the test

The clash with Salah represented the biggest test for Archie Gray and Djed Spence since they were both thrown into Spurs’ starting XI. It was a particularly big challenge for Spence, who was making his third consecutive start after months of sitting on the bench and playing on the left despite being right-footed.

Salah is one of the best players in the world and has always wanted to sneak into threatening positions. In the 16th minute, Spence prevented the goal with a great double block. However, seconds later, the Egypt international turned and outpaced the pair before firing a right-footed shot that hit the crossbar.


(Photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Spence and Gray did their best but needed more help and protection from Tottenham’s midfielders. There were too many opportunities, especially in the second half when they were hoping for a goal as Liverpool swarmed them on the counterattack.

It felt like they had to deal with wave after wave of attacks, and the best example was the move that led to Salah’s first goal. Gray and Radu Dragusin faced five Liverpool attackers and despite the 18-year-old’s best efforts as he parried Cody Gakpo’s cross and then stopped Szoboszlai’s shot on the line, Salah managed a simple throw-in.

It was a painful experience for Gray and Spence that they will certainly learn from.

Szoboszlai uses his head

In his first competitive game as Liverpool head coach against Ipswich Town, Arne Slot emphasized the need to win duels. With Liverpool and Tottenham competing in almost identical 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 formations, this meant a lot of long passes and second balls. Szoboszlai’s positional awareness and head passes made the difference.

Tottenham played a particularly direct game for their standards, and Liverpool’s four defenders were often forced to return the ball from the air instead of bringing it down. Szoboszlai had five headed passes in the first half, four of which he completed and passed to a midfielder who was able to give Liverpool the lead on the wings. Overall, Liverpool completed 15 of their 18 headed passes and won four of five aerial duels in the first half.

The finale of Szoboszlai’s five goals came from a hopeful long ball from Alexander-Arnold after the full-back had run into trouble and Tottenham were piling on the pressure. Szoboszlai won the aerial duel against Dragusin and followed up his pass as Liverpool cut Tottenham apart and pushed past Forster after an assist from Salah.

Spurs struggle after game overload

Just a few days after defeating Manchester United and reaching the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, Spurs were brought back down to earth. It was always going to be a difficult task for Ange Postecoglou’s side to get a positive result against the league leaders.

Slot was able to rest some of his squad during the midweek win over Southampton, but nine of Tottenham’s starting XI have started three games in the last eight days. Their energy was already running low and going up against this version of Liverpool proved too much.

The real concern was how easy it was for Liverpool to create chances. They scored points from crosses and counterattacks. When Szoboszlai’s shot just before half-time, they played through Tottenham’s pressing. They had so many different tools at their disposal to harm their opponents.

Many people in the stadium feared the worst when Liverpool made it 5-1. They constantly created good opportunities and flooded Spurs. Goals from Kulusevski and Solanke made the result a little more respectable, but this is the third home game in a row in which Spurs have conceded at least three goals. Postecoglou will call it entertaining, but will this path lead to sustainable success in the long term?

Liverpool make a statement after stuttering

Liverpool are top of the league at Christmas. That has a nice sound. If you had told Slot that this would be the result of his first few months in England, he would have bitten your hand off.

Chelsea dropped points in a 0-0 draw with Everton at Goodison Park, meaning Liverpool were guaranteed to be top of the table come December 25 – but they had the chance to go four points clear.

After consecutive draws in the division, Liverpool had not won a Premier League game since a 2-0 win over Manchester City on December 1. The postponed Merseyside derby didn’t help matters, but Liverpool had cut their lead from nine points to one before it got underway.

This was the perfect opportunity to get back on track and increase the lead again. They were dominant from start to finish and ruthless in front of goal.

They were dominant in the first 60 minutes and took a 5-1 lead.

However, the final 20 minutes may have upset Slot as his side conceded two goals and allowed Tottenham to reduce the deficit. Diaz’s later goal and Liverpool’s sixth goal restored the three-goal lead.

Joe Gomez and Szoboszlai were two of the many standout players Liverpool have used to underline their title credentials so far – and they still have a game in hand.

What did Ange Postecoglou say?

We will let you know after he speaks at the post-match press conference.

What did Arne Slot say?

We will let you know after he speaks at the post-match press conference.

What’s next for Tottenham?

Thursday, December 26th: Nottingham Forest (A), Premier League, 3:00 p.m. GMT, 10:00 a.m. ET

What’s next for Liverpool?

Thursday, December 26th: Leicester City (H), Premier League, 8:00 p.m. GMT, 3:00 p.m. ET

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(Top photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

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