Liverpool player ratings vs Tottenham: The Egyptian King rules at Christmas! Record-breaking Mohamed Salah tears apart Spurs as Reds' out-of-contract trio remind FSG of their worth
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Liverpool will go into Christmas four points clear at the top of the Premier League table and with a game in hand after they thrashed Tottenham 6-3 on Sunday.
Arne Slot's men were imperious from start to finish in north London and made their shorthanded hosts pay for their naive nature with a ruthless performance.
Midway through the first half, the Reds had their opener. An exceptional cross by Trent Alexander-Arnold from the right channel found Luis Diaz in acres of space, and the Colombian headed past Fraser Forster to give his side the lead.
Ten minutes before the break, Liverpool had a second. Andy Robertson's delivery caused trouble for Archie Gray and Djed Spence, who collided with Dominik Szoboszlai going up for the floated cross, and Alexis Mac Allister beat Forster to the loose ball to poke home.
However, Tottenham pulled one back before the interval. Mac Allister lost possession to Dejan Kulusevski midway inside his own half, allowing James Maddison to take over possession and fire one past Alisson from just outside the box. The Argentine claimed a foul by Kulusevski led to Maddison pinching the ball, but neither the referee nor VAR were interested in his complaints.
But there was still time for the Reds to restore their two-goal advantage heading into half-time. A long ball from Alexander-Arnold straight down the middle caught Spurs high up the pitch. Szoboszlai headed on for Salah to race in, and the Egyptian returned the ball to his Hungarian team-mate to slip under Forster.
Shortly after the restart, Liverpool scrambled in their fourth. A quick breakaway saw Cody Gakpo square for Szoboszlai, who was twice denied by Gray before Salah forced the ball in at the third attempt.
Liverpool got their fifth with their next attack, carving right through Spurs with ease as Szoboszlai squared for Salah to tap into an empty net.
Tottenham kept up the fight and were rewarded with a superb goal of their own. Dominic Solanke dropped deep to drag the centre-backs up, and he found Kulusevski with a lovely dink before he provided the finishing touches from a close distance.
With under 10 minutes remaining, Solanke scored one of his own after peeling away from Virgil van Dijk to slide in a headed ball back across goal from Brennan Johnson.
The home crowd started to believe their side could mount a comeback, but those hopes were extinguished when Salah teed up Diaz for his second of the game and the last of Sunday's nine goals.
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