PREMIER League, DECEMBER 22 2024
Tottenham Hotspur 3Liverpool 6
Maddison (41)
Kulusevski (72)
Solanke (83)
Díaz (23, 85)
Mac Allister (36)
Szoboszlai (45+1)
Salah (54, 61)
Liverpool gave their fans an early Christmas present by tearing Tottenham apart in this game. In doing so, Arne Slot’s team extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points, with a game in hand. Despite scoring six goals and maintaining their unbeaten away record in the 2024/25 campaign, the margin of victory here could and should have been greater. For Tottenham, defeat left them languishing 11th in the table, despite having the fourth-best goal difference in the division – eight goals better than the next best team, with two more goals scored than any other side.
Liverpool looked to be heading into half-time with at least a two-goal lead, only for Spurs to score against the run of play. Any hope Ange Postecoglou had that the tide would turn was dispelled when Dominik Szoboszlai restored the two-goal cushion just before the break. And it looked like a humiliating thrashing was on the cards when Liverpool went 5-1 up with half an hour remaining. Tottenham, however, have developed a reputation for entertainment under Postecoglou and pulled it back to 5-3 after 83 minutes, only for Luis Díaz to snuff out any hopes of an unlikely comeback.
How the managers saw it
“I’ve never questioned the players commitment, effort – they really care and believe in what we’re doing,” said Postecoglou. “That was evident again today, but you still need to be at a certain level both physically and in terms of quality to be able to do what we need to do against the top teams… today, they were just too good for us.”
“Until 60, 65 minutes, I really, really, really enjoyed what I saw,” said Slot. “But then you also saw that no matter how much quality players have, if they think they don’t have to run anymore, then in this league – especially against Tottenham, because they are so good with the ball as well – they immediately start to create, and that’s what they did and they scored two goals. I was happy that the sixth one went in, to be fair.”
Starting line-ups
Tottenham HotspurLiverpool
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Tottenham Hotspur4-2-3-1
Liverpool4-2-3-1
20Fraser Forster
1Alisson Becker
24Djed Spence
66Trent Alexander-Arnold
14Archie Gray
2Joe Gomez
6Radu Dragusin
4Virgil van Dijk
23Pedro Porro
26Andy Robertson
8Yves Bissouma
38Ryan Gravenberch
29Pape Matar Sarr
10Alexis Mac Allister
7Son Heung-min
11Mohamed Salah
10James Maddison
8Dominik Szoboszlai
21Dejan Kulusevski
18Cody Gakpo
19Dominic Solanke
7Luis Díaz
Match stats
TottenhamLiverpool
9/5
SHOTS / ON TARGET
23/11
54%
POSSESSION
46%
30
ATTACKS INTO AREA
39
1.02
EXPECTED GOALS (XG)
4.48
Liverpool’s committed attack
From their 4-2-3-1 structure, Liverpool committed significant numbers to their attacking play, beginning the match very much on the front foot. Although nominally a centre-forward, Díaz dropped to find pockets of space in the left inside-channel, away from Spurs’ centre-backs. There, he worked well alongside left winger Cody Gakpo, who was supported by Andy Robertson’s delayed runs from deep. On Liverpool’s right, Szoboszlai moved forward to provide similar connections around Mohamed Salah, with Trent Alexander-Arnold also supporting from deep like Robertson. The double pivot of Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister then protected and covered ahead of the two centre-backs (below).
Liverpool’s attacking shape continued to cause Spurs problems, as the hosts’ double pivots – from their 4-2-3-1 block – jumped on to Gravenberch and Mac Allister. This meant Salah, Díaz and Szoboszlai had space between the lines to receive and drive forward. Díaz continued to cause Tottenham issues by drifting wide, while Salah’s movements beyond left-back Djed Spence gave Liverpool a more direct option (below). Both of the away team’s full-backs continued to make delayed runs in support, with Robertson and Alexander-Arnold crossing for the first two goals.
Liverpool’s high press
As well as creating from spells of sustained possession, Liverpool also created early chances via their high press. Where possible Díaz jumped on to Spurs’ right centre-back, which gave Salah an opportunity to press higher. Szoboszlai moved on to the Tottenham pivot who was positioned closest to the ball. From there, one of Mac Allister or Gravenberch jumped centrally, with Gakpo often forced to track back when Pedro Porro advanced. On the other side, Salah let Spence advance and stayed higher himself, ready to receive and punish any high regain (below). Salah’s five shots in the first 20 minutes alone demonstrated how attack-minded his positioning was throughout the first half.
Tottenham themselves struggled to create for much of the first half, despite Spence being a clear out-ball against Liverpool’s high press. On the occasions he did receive and advance, however, his teammates’ supporting movements didn’t always help. His space was too often filled by teammates bringing their marker towards the ball. James Maddison’s widening to the left offered little, allowing his marker to be in a position jump to Spence while also covering him. Solanke’s support was covered by Liverpool’s centre-back and any spare midfielder, while Son Heung-min rarely readjusted as Spence carried the ball (below).
As such, Tottenham only created final-third entries by playing balls over the top of Liverpool's high back line. Their first goal came out of nowhere, when a high regain from sloppy Liverpool play allowed Maddison to score.
Liverpool continued with their high press in the second half, often going player-for-player on the side of the ball. Díaz and Gakpo pressed and duelled on the visitors’ left side, allowing Salah to stay high on the right. Their back line was fully committed to supporting the press, with both full-backs happy to jump out if a Tottenham winger dropped. Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez were also happy to defend high, sometimes well into the opposition half (below), as Spurs rarely made runs or passes behind Liverpool’s high full-backs. On the occasions when Spurs did get out – mainly through impressive individual play – Liverpool’s individual duelling recovered the ball back by the time they entered the final third.
Incisive Liverpool attacks
Liverpool showed their attacking prowess in going 5-1 up, but were also aided by Tottenham’s unconvincing back line. Postecoglou’s team pushed players forward almost regardless of the scoreline. And, with both Tottenham full-backs well out of position, their defensive box of centre-backs and pivots was easily exploited. Liverpool quickly found spaces either side, with Salah positioned high, ready and waiting for the transition. His positioning and subsequent movements helped create more space for Gakpo and Díaz, who rotated superbly on the other side. Additional runs from deep from Szoboszlai and one of their full-backs (below) meant that Liverpool repeatedly got numbers in the opposition penalty area.
On several occasions, three or four relatively simple Liverpool passes led to a chance, no matter where they had regained the ball. The away side exposed Tottenham’s lack of compactness within their defensive lines, as well as the huge amount of space in behind. Salah and Gakpo repeatedly moved beyond, as Liverpool attacked directly over, or around, in addition to their intricate build-up play. Díaz or Gakpo withdrew, luring centre-backs out to create spaces for penetrative passes, which were complimented by runs from midfield – especially from Szoboszlai (below).
Although Tottenham grabbed two late consolation goals, Liverpools’ incisive attacking play and ruthless finishing completed a deserved victory. The two teams will meet again at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in just over two weeks, in the EFL Cup. For now, though, Liverpool have their eyes firmly set on a bigger prize.
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