Liverpool consigned Tottenham to a fourth consecutive defeat by notching a 4-2 win in Jurgen Klopp‘s penultimate game at Anfield. The Reds were four goals up and cruising by the time Spurs cleaned their act up in the second half, but Ange Postecoglou‘s side left themselves with far too much to do.
Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson and Cody Gakpo netted for the hosts before a Harvey Elliott screamer put them even further ahead. Richarlison and Son Heung-min‘s response was spirited but insufficient, leaving Spurs with an uphill battle to finish in the top four.
Here, Express Sport takes you through four key talking points from an entertaining Premier League battle…
Klopp gets his revenge
Tottenham‘s 2-1 win at home to Liverpool in September was fraught with controversy. Luis Diaz had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota were both sent off, and Joel Matip decided the game with a last-minute own goal.
Before Sunday’s showdown, Klopp said: “It was obviously not [Tottenham‘s] fault that night, they just played the game, but I would like to win this game for 500 reasons, that we lost there and the way we lost is one of them.”
Liverpool players gave their manager exactly what he wanted in front of jubilant home supporters, raising spirits after a miserable few weeks in which their title chances disintegrated.
Watch all the Premier League and Champions League drama unfold on TNT Sports
Viral clip exposes Tottenham star
Injuries to Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies forced full-back Emerson Royal to step in and grapple with Salah on his unfavoured left side. Needless to say things didn’t pan out well for the Brazilian.
And one particular clip which circulated widely on social media encapsulated Emerson’s shaky defensive display, as he inexplicably decided not to track Salah at the back post before the Egyptian nodded Liverpool in front from close range.
Salah punishes Postecoglou
With Emerson failing to keep him under wraps, Salah brushed off the touchline spat with Klopp which dominated the headlines after Liverpool‘s draw with West Ham last time out.
The 31-year-old hit the woodwork twice and then notched the opener all inside the opening 16 minutes. It was his 12th career goal against Spurs, with only Manchester United (14) conceding more at the hands of the Liverpool forward. The superb performance of fellow Reds attacker Cody Gakpo was also noteworthy as he notched a goal and an assist.
Tottenham team-mates square up
Not much has gone right for Postecoglou of late, and the sight of two Tottenham players going for each other as they trudged down the tunnel at half-time won’t have made him feel any better.
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had to step in upon spotting an altercation between Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal, who squared up with Spurs two goals down at the break. Vicario had to physically grab Romero by the neck to pull him away during the angry exchange, which may be a sign of cracks beginning to show in the dressing room.
