Reds win to top league over Christmas: Five things we learned from Tottenham 3-6 Liverpool | OneFootball

Liverpool will top the Premier League over Christmas for the first time since the 2021/22 season after beating Tottenham 6-3.

The Reds scored three times either side of half-time to send a message to the rest of the league of their quality under Dutchman Arne Slot.

Spurs still managed to score three goals themselves against the league leaders, but the result once again led to questions over Ange Postecoglou’s style.

Here are five things we learnt from the match…

Arne Slot’s side are the real deal

Tottenham had been beaten seven times before, but no team has taken them apart quite like Liverpool did here. The Reds were dominant from start to finish in all areas of the pitch and if they continue like this will surely win another Premier League title. Four points clear of Chelsea and six points ahead of Arsenal, with a game in hand against both, and playing the best football in the Premier League, who would bet against Virgil Van Dijk lifting the Premier League trophy in May?

Tottenham is the place to come for goals

Five last week at Southampton, seven on Thursday and now nine on Sunday evening, Tottenham are the team to follow if you want to see goals. Unfortunately for them they were on the wrong end of a nine-goal thriller, outclassed by the rampant Reds. Scoring is no problem for Spurs, with 12 in three games over the past week, but conceding nine in two games at home is embarrassing. In Ange Postecoglou’s defence, his back five has been shorn of four first-choice players in Guglielmlo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Van and Destiny Udogie, and while Archie Gray again exceeded expectations as an emergency centre-back, Spurs desperately need some of their injured defenders back.

Back to winning ways

Successive draws in the past two league games, at Newcastle and then last week’s 2-2 draw at home to Fulham, gave the chasing pack hope that Liverpool might be losing their grip, but they were back to their majestic best at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and their fans can celebrate Christmas with a strong lead and a game in hand. Most igportantly they look the full package, with the league’s best defence and in attack, they are the second highest scorers after Spurs.

Ange is not changing his approach

Asked about his tactical approach, Postecoglou was unrepentant : “I think I have been really patient the last 18 months answering the same questions over and over again. If people want me to change my approach, it’s not going to change. We are doing it for a reason, we are doing it because we think it will help us to be successful. If people don’t understand the circumstances we are in at the moment, the challenges we have from a squad perspective which are as obvious as you want to make them. I get the idea that people think that I should just flip a switch and change and somehow that will miraculously make us a better team. It is what it is. I’m just going to continue, stay focused on trying to build this team to be the team we want. In the interim we are going to accept there are going to be challenges along the way.”

Arne Slot knows being top at Christmas means little

Liverpool have a four point lead over second-placed Chelsea with a game in hand, but Slot is not resting on Liverpool laurels: “I’d prefer be in that position than elsewhere, but you know and I know how hard it is to win it, you have to keep going every three days, be on top of your game in every minute of every game, It is not easy.”