Stat of the Match: Tottenham 3-6 Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspur play in an entertaining, open style. They don't usually get as torn apart as they were by Liverpool in their 6-3 win though.

Liverpool crushed Tottenham Hotspur 6-3 on Sunday. It was one of the best performances you could hope to see, particularly until the result had been put to bed early in the second half. A team that hadn’t lost by more than a single goal this season was fortunate that their margin of defeat was only three.

The Premier League has only had two prior 6-3 away wins, both of which were relevant to the action on Sunday. The first was recorded by the Reds in 2014, the centrepiece sixth victory in a run of 11 which almost carried Brendan Rodgers’ side to the title.

Five months later, Chelsea won 6-3 at Goodison Park. They ended 2014/15 as champions, but by only drawing 0-0 at Everton this weekend, it will be harder for them to take first spot this season.

Tottenham are known for the carefree football they play under Ange Postecoglou, which leads to high scoring games. In the last month alone, they’ve both won and lost 4-3 at home as well as winning 5-0 at Southampton (not a big deal) and 4-0 at Manchester City (less of a big deal than we thought).

Even though their style encourages entertaining matches, Spurs have not been taken apart so comprehensively before. You will struggle to find the attacking numbers the Reds posted in any other Premier League game, let alone when playing away from home against a fellow member of the big six.

As Jonathan Liew noted in his report for The Guardian: “Tottenham and Liverpool may feel gulfs apart, but in reality they are the eighth- and seventh-richest clubs in the world, fishing in the same water.” It was Arne Slot who hooked the catch of the day, leaving Postecoglou scrabbling around for tiddlers.

The starting point is the shot total, as everything flows from there. The 24 Liverpool recorded is the joint-most Spurs have allowed at home in the last decade.

The tally was largely amassed thanks to three players. Luis Díaz, Mohamed Salah (both seven) and Dominik Szoboszlai (six) helped make this just the ninth instance since 2014 of a team having three (or more) players record at least six shots in a Premier League game. Ignoring Burnley as opponents for 12 months starting in October 2016 leaves just four other examples.

The Reds kept stand-in shot stopper Fraser Forster very busy. This match is the 15th in the English top flight in the last 11 seasons which saw the away side rack up at least 12 attempts on target. Against any of the big six sides, it is the first.

Tottenham were just so open. Alisson Becker played the only through ball of the match, creating an Opta-defined big chance - one of 11 Liverpool had - with a straight kick downfield to Szoboszlai. The Hungarian was electric, in what was surely his best game for the Reds. His on-ball work finally matched the defensive shifts he has put in under Slot.

A Liverpool player can have one of their best ever games, yet there’s always the possibility they will be overshadowed by Salah. As it has been so often in the past, so it was here. Since the start of November, he has as many league goals as City.

I had wondered if the Egyptian would start 2024/25 well having had the summer off. This happened three years ago, again when so many rivals spent their off-seasons at the Copa America and European Championship while he had his feet up. Coincidence or not, Salah is in very similar form.

After Liverpool has beaten Newcastle 3-1 on December 16, 2021, Salah had filled his 1,979 minutes of playing time with 22 goals and nine assists. The balance has shifted a little from scoring to creativity, but he has netted 18 times and set up 15 goals in 1,970 minutes so far this season. Same as it ever was.

The 32-year-old scored twice and set up two more goals, only the 45th time a player has hit both marks in a Premier League game, the 15th on the road. While such high output must obviously occur in high scoring games, Salah added himself to a list featuring some iconic matches; Roberto Firmino and Mark Hughes in 9-0 wins, Ashley Young when Manchester United beat Arsenal 8-2 and Eyal Berkovic when Southampton memorably beat the Red Devils 6-3. Let’s not forget the previous example prior to Sunday, either: Salah in Liverpool’s 7-0 thumping of United.

The final word has to go Díaz, who bookended the scoring in a fixture in which he was so cruelly denied a goal by sheer officiating incompetence last season.

The possession sequences which led to Liverpool’s strikes in this match varied in length, with the first three having 15 to 17 involvements while the latter trio featured six to eight.

But whether the build up was long or short, the Colombian was the only man who played a part in all six goals. He has started at centre-forward against Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Fulham and Tottenham, with little to dislike about Liverpool’s performances or results in those games.

And although the goals conceded here were a mild irritation, there wasn’t much cause for concern for the Reds in north London on Sunday. The way the league table is shaping up, the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and City are looking like they will only be a trifling distraction for Liverpool in the title race too.