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Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 6-3 in the Premier League on Sunday, December 22, as the sides played out an absolute classic at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Coming into the fixture on the back of a strong run, Luis Diaz fired the Reds in front after 23 minutes before Alexis Mac Allister doubled their advantage in the 36th minute.
However, the Argentine offset that with a poor defensive play that led to Spurs coming back into the game as James Maddison made it 2-1. In the added minutes of the opening half though, Dominik Szoboszlai restored their two-goal advantage.
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Mohamed Salah, who's had a terrific run in the season thus far, netted a quick-fire brace in the second half as Liverpool went 5-1 up and the match was seemingly over. But there were more twists to come.
Dejan Kulusevski and Dominik Solanke struck a goal apiece for the Lilywhites to reduce the goal-difference to two again, but Diaz popped up with a second late on to make it 6-3.
Following such a riveting contest, Arne Slot's swashbuckling side remained at the top of the table with 39 points, four clear of second-placed Chelsea with a game in hand. Spurs, though, succumbed to their eighth loss of the top-flight season and languish in 11th place with just 23 points.
Liverpool Player Ratings
Alisson - 6
A poor night for both goalkeepers, but Alisson will be delighted that his opposite number was way worse. Yet, the Brazilian has lot to ponder after letting in three goals.
Trent Alexander-Arnold - 8.5
The marauding right-back bagged one assist and completed five crosses, while also making seven clearances and three interceptions.
Joe Gomez - 7
Gomez registered seven clearances, a testament to his vision and game-reading ability while also competing over 90% of his passes.
Virgil van Dijk - 8
A colossal performance in defense by the Liverpool skipper, who won all nine of his duels and timed his tackles to perfection, completing four. He never let Spurs forwards have it easy.
Andrew Robertson - 7.5
Robertson brilliantly won back possession from Dejan Kulusevski and launched a counter-attack that eventually led to Liverpool's fourth of the evening. He laid two crosses and one key pass too.
Alexis Mac Allister - 7.5
The Argentinian midfielder doubled Liverpool's advantage with superb headed finish, but then some sloppy play at the back allowed Tottenham to pull one back just minutes later. Nonetheless, his positives outweighed the negatives, with Mac Allister making four interceptions and one tackle for a solid performance in defense.
Ryan Gravenberch - 6.5
Relatively quiet during a frantic game, but Gravenberch had his moments too. His ball-winning capability was crucial to hindering Tottenham's movements. The Dutchman even had a shot at goal, but scuffed it over the bar.
Dominik Szoboszlai - 8.5
Szoboszlai put the game out of sight for Liverpool in the first-half with a close-range finish after Salah unselfishly squared the ball to him. He then proceeded to return the favor by setting the forward up for their fifth of the evening.
Mohamed Salah - 10
The Egyptian ace continued his hot streak with two more goals and two more assists. That's 15 and 11 respectively in the league season already. What's left to say? We're running out of superlatives to describe him.
Cody Gakpo - 5
An uncharacteristically poor game for the Dutchman on such a goal-crazy night for his side. Gakpo was thoroughly eclipsed by his attacking cohorts as he struggled to get involved and contribute anything meaningful. Subbed off in the 68th minute.
Luis Diaz - 9
The Colombian ace set Liverpool on their way by opening up their account for the evening with a sweet header beyond Fraser Forster. He weirdly went silent after that moment, only to resurface again in the 85th minute with a second goal.
Substitutes
Curtis Jones - 6.5
Jones distributed the ball superbly to keep the play going for Liverpool.
Diogo Jota - 6
The Portuguese forward couldn't add much to an already-firing frontline.
Harvey Elliott - N/A
The youngster came on when the match was almost up, but would be delighted to have gotten a few minutes under his belt.
Darwin Nunez - N/A
The Uruguayan came on to see the game off.
