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Ange Postecoglou comes out firing as he insists 'I don't feel any extra anxiety' despite Tottenham's poor form... with teenagers drafted in to solve Spurs injury crisis ahead of clash with Wolves

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Tottenham have lost four of the last five in the Premier League and sit 12th

Ben Davies has suffered a setback while Radu Dragusin is struggling to be fit

LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! New formation, some new faces, but the optimism has gone at Old Trafford

Ange Postecoglou has promised to hold his nerve through Tottenham's latest sequence of misfortune and misfiring form.

He dismissed the idea pressure must be building and anxiety seeping in, instead insisting his players are behind him, fully on board with his adventurous playing style and that the club's recruitment department are trying to ease what he considers the worst injury crisis of his coaching career.

'I get where people kind of look at my situation and think "Jeez, he needs to do something or else he is in trouble" but I don't think that way,' said Postecoglou. 'It's not how I am wired.

'My motivation is try to create teams who win things and have success. That doesn't really change. I will keep doing what I am doing. It doesn't add any pressure or I don't feel any extra anxiety about anything. I firmly believe we will get through this and come out stronger and create the team we want to be.'

Spurs have lost four of the last five in the Premier League and suffered another untimely blow yesterday(FRI) with Ben Davies ruled out for at least two more weeks after suffering a setback on his return to training after three weeks out with a hamstring problem.

Djed Spence misses Sunday's game against Wolves, banned after a red card in the Boxing Day defeat at Nottingham Forest. Radu Dragusin is struggling to be fit with an ankle injury from the same game.

With Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven still out, it leaves Postecoglou desperately short in central defence. Yves Bissouma and Alfie Dorrington will lead the contenders to partner Archie Gray if Dragusin is out.

Even so, Postecoglou tried to remain positive. 'We're not that far off,' he said. 'A week ago, I was sitting here after winning a Carabao Cup quarter final and having beaten Southampton 5-0. And we're in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup and still in great position in Europe and there's the FA Cup.

'Our league position is not great but it's super tight. If you look at some of the teams four or five points above us, I don't think that's going to stretch by any great lengths over the next period because all teams you see are suffering at some point. Ours is probably a bit more extreme than others but I'm confident we'll work through that.

'There's still everything for us to play for this year to make it a season where we can have success.'

Reinforcements, though, would certainly help. 'The players need some help, more importantly, and the club is working really hard to try make that happen,' said Postecoglou, but the January market can be difficult, and Tottenham intend to hold their discipline in line with recent windows.

Richarlison and Mikey Moore are expected back in training next week, before the Premier League game against Newcastle, and Yang Min-Hyeok, an 18-year-old South Korean winger, can be registered in the New Year.

Yang signed from Gangwon in July but completed the K-League season before making the switch to London.

Postecoglou insisted the players were still firmly behind his methods. 'They are still trying so hard,' said Postecoglou. 'That's the first thing you look at as a manager, are the players still responding or are they out there looking to an alternative?

'It's human nature to think we need to do something different or we're obviously undermanned, let's change something. I haven't sensed that. The players still want to tackle this the way we are tackling it. It's a credit to them.

'But it's up to me to guide them through that and show them all these things are temporary, and that you will get through it. If we do get through them in a positive way, the bonus and the benefit is that makes you stronger.

'There's always people in life who people look at a bit curiously because they do things a bit differently and they're a bit of a joke until they get it right then all of a sudden they're a genius. That's probably relevant to us right now.'

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When can he join again!? Incoming Tottenham teenage defender Luka Vuskovic scores acrobatic wondergoal in Belgium amid Spurs' injury crisis ahead of Premier League switch

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Teenage talent Luka Vuskovic cannot join struggling Tottenham soon enough as the incoming defender continues to impress in Belgium, scoring a mesmerising bicycle kick.

Spurs confirmed the signing of the highly-rated 17-year-old from Hajduk Split in September 2023 but the signing came with a caveat - he was to stay at the Croatian outfit until 2025.

Vuskovic spent the second half of last season on loan at Polish side Rodamiak and this campaign at Belgian team K.V.C. Westerlo.

The defender caught the attention of top British clubs including Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool after helping Hajduk win the Croatian Cup in 2023.

He also made his debut for the club aged 15 and became their youngest-ever goalscorer after finding the net just days after his 16th birthday.

Tottenham might not have expected to regret the delayed arrival too much but a recent defensive crisis has made Vuskovic's electric form all the more painful for Ange Postecoglou.

He struck his sixth league goal of the season for mid-table Westerlo against Club Brugge on Boxing Day and it was one to remember.

A ball comes looping in from the left flank and finds Australian wide man Jordan Bos at the back post, who heads it back into the heart of the box.

From nowhere, 6ft 5in Vuskovic throws his long legs into the air and unleashes a bicycle kick which fires the ball past former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

The wonderstrike completed a comeback at Brugge from two goals down, but Westerlo ended up slipping to a 4-3 defeat which leaves them in 11th on 23 points from 20 matches.

Fellow Spurs loanee Alfie Devine also scored in the loss, giving Postecoglou further cause to regret shipping the youngsters out as the club's injury crisis deepens by the day.

Ben Davies, out since damaging a hamstring at Bournemouth at the start of December, returned to training this week with a view to returning against Wolves on Sunday.

But Postecoglou has ruled him out for another 'couple of weeks' after a setback in training.

The setback comes after Radu Dragusin limped off in the final minutes of a Boxing Day defeat at Nottingham Forest with an ankle complaint.

And Djed Spence will be banned against Wolves after a red card in stoppage time at the City Ground.

Central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario are all out with injuries.

'It's a bit early to tell,' said Postecoglou when asked about the extent of Dragusin's injury. 'He tweaked an ankle and felt like couldn't continue, we'll have to wait and see.'

Spurs finished the game at Forest with 18-year-old Archie Gray and midfielder Yves Bissouma in central defence.

'We've not many options,' said Postecoglou. 'We're in a tough spot and have been for a while.

'We've been getting through and keeping our fingers crossed but the nature of football and fixture scheduling means it's always a fine line of getting through. This is another test and what have to deal with we will deal with.

'I've never known it go one for this level and this period of time. We've had close to 10 first team players not available for a significant run of games. It's definitely a first for me.'

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Ange Postecoglou reveals setback for Tottenham star as his side's injury crisis deepens - after Radu Dragusin limped off during defeat by Nottingham Forest

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Tottenham are already without defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven

Radu Dragusin then limped off during their 1-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest

LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Are Tottenham managers treated differently to other managers?

Ange Postecoglou has suffered another blow with a fresh setback for Ben Davies deepening Tottenham's defensive injury crisis.

Davies, out since damaging a hamstring at Bournemouth at the start of December, returned to training this week with a view to returning against Wolves on Sunday.

But Postecoglou has ruled him out for another 'couple of weeks' after a setback in training.

The setback comes after Radu Dragusin limped off in the final minutes of a Boxing Day defeat at Nottingham Forest with an ankle complaint.

And Djed Spence will be banned against Wolves after a red card in stoppage time at the City Ground.

Central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario are all out with injuries.

'It's a bit early to tell,' said Postecoglou when asked about the extent of Dragusin's injury. 'He tweaked an ankle and felt like couldn't continue, we'll have to wait and see.'

Spurs finished the game at Forest with 18-year-old Archie Gray and midfielder Yves Bissouma in central defence.

'We've not many options,' said Postecoglou. 'We're in a tough spot and have been for a while.

'We've been getting through and keeping our fingers crossed but the nature of football and fixture scheduling means it's always a fine line of getting through. This is another test and what have to deal with we will deal with.

'I've never known it go one for this level and this period of time. We've had close to 10 first team players not available for a significant run of games. It's definitely a first for me.'

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Premier League: Live scores, team news and updates from Boxing Day 3pm games as Chelsea lead against Fulham, Newcastle are beating Aston Villa who are down to 10 men, while Tottenham are losing at Not

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Follow Mail Sport's live blog for the latest scores, team news and updates from Boxing Day 3pm matches including Chelsea vs Fulham, Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace, Southampton vs West Ham, Newcastle vs Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest vs Spurs.

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Tottenham star Sergio Reguilon deletes all of his Instagram posts with his ex-girlfriend - before posting Christmas Day pictures with his new influencer partner

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Sergio Reguilon and social media star, Marta Diaz, broke up last year

Tottenham full-back spent Christmas with new partner Clara Ranz Rodríguez.

LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Are Tottenham managers treated differently to other managers?

Fans have noticed that Sergio Reguilon has made the decision to delete all of his Instagram posts that included his ex-girlfriend Marta Diaz.

Tottenham left-back Reguilon, 28, and social media star Diaz, 24, ended their long-term relationship last September just as Diaz was filming for the successful Spanish programme 'El Desafio'.

During the show, Diaz was seen breaking down in tears and admitting that she was thinking about 'something else'.

The removal of Diaz from his social media profile comes as he shared a Christmas snap with his new partner Clara Ranz Rodríguez.

The pair were seen posing in front of a Christmas tree with their arms around their pet dog.

Rodriguez recently made her love for Reguilon clear in a post of her own on his 28th birthday.

'Happy birthday my life @sergioregui I take advantage of this special day to reiterate how lucky I feel to have you in my life, you are a wonderful and incredibly strong person,' she wrote.

'I am very proud of you!! Lucky to be able to spend this day by your side for another year. I love you my love, happy birthday and happy life!!'

Little is known about Rodriguez other than she has 124,000 Instagram followers and is the co-founder of a jewelry company.

Reguilon has been on Tottenham's books for four years but has spent loans spells with three clubs during that time.

He appeared to share a sarcastic message about his Spurs exile after Ange Postecoglou gave him his first seven minutes of football this season in the Carabao Cup win over Manchester United.

The Spanish outcast was brought on in the 91st minute of the 4-3 win over United, who were one of the clubs he spent time with on loan.

The full-back is clearly considered surplus to requirements and has only made the bench five times this campaign.

The game was, in fact, his first appearance for Spurs since April 2022 after loans at Atletico Madrid, Manchester United and Brentford.

His contract is up at the end of the season and Mail Sport reported in the summer how he wants to join a club playing European football.

After the United game, he posted on Instagram: 'look mum, I played a football game yesterday'.

The 28-year-old did receive interest over the summer but opted to reject the proposals which came his way.

In January, Manchester United cut Reguilon's loan short after he failed to impress at Old Trafford.

He spent the back end of last season on loan at Brentford, where he made 16 appearances, including 14 starts.

Spurs signed him for £30million on a five-year deal in 2020 and he made a solid start for them but has clearly fallen out of favour.

Opportunities could open up as Tottenham venture deeper into the season and Postecoglou admitted that fellow left-back Destiny Udogie has been fatigued.

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Ange Postecoglou insists he is 'responsible' for Tottenham's struggles this season ahead of Boxing Day meeting with high-flying Nottingham Forest and former manager Nuno Espirito Santo

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There were very few voices of dissent when Nuno Espirito Santo's short reign as Tottenham boss came to an end.

It was November 2021 and more than the fact they were eighth in the Premier League with a disappointing record of eight wins from 17 games it was a matter of style.

'Clearly not the right fit,' was the verdict from those at the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust.

These reflections, three years on, offer an intriguing perspective as Spurs travel to Nottingham Forest, flying high in fourth under Nuno, difficult to play against, threatening on the break and fuelled by the goals of Chris Wood.

Nobody at the City Ground is complaining about the way they are going about it while Spurs fans are locking into another existential crisis about what it is they really want and expect from their team.

Ange Postecoglou has revived an identity for flamboyance and flair after four years under Jose Mourinho, Nuno and Antonio Conte. Goals are guaranteed. So too, thrills with results teetering in the balance even when one side is three up.

Yet they wallow below midway in the table, besieged for weeks by injuries and eight points adrift of Forest after Sunday's demoralising 6-3 thrashing at home against Liverpool.

'I am responsible for it,' said Postecoglou. 'I am the one choosing the path we're on. It's difficult, I don't like seeing our supporters having to experience a game like that.

'I don't like the players giving everything and feeling the way they do. And all the staff, because everyone works hard and they're all doing a great job. But ultimately, on a day like that, everyone leaves fairly deflated and disappointed and unfairly judged.

'That's my responsibility. Of course it weighs on me very heavily. But my biggest responsibility is to try and change the course of this club and bring success. And as much as I take it pretty hard, I still feel like my role is to make sure that we stay the course.'

He is criticised by experts for failing to rethink his cavalier style just as Nuno was bemoaned and ultimately fired by Spurs because his football was dry and lacking adventure.

'In today's world we search for perfection and it doesn't exist,' said Postecoglou. 'Whatever road you go down there's going to be some pain and challenges.

'People say I should be more defensive minded so that means I need to temper my attacking approach. Make it more defensive to achieve what? Achieve perfection. And if you're too defensive, people say you should be a little bit more attacking, for what purpose? To be perfect. None of that exists.

'Some people will always just look in the black-and-white terms of just results. If I'm winning, then I'm great. My system is great, my beliefs are great, my philosophy is great and if I'm losing everything isn't.'

Tottenham's crisis is eased with Rodrigo Bentancur back after a seven-match ban and Ben Davies vying to return after injury.

The transfer market opens next week, but Postecoglou fears it could be more difficult than ever to sign players in midseason because of changes to European competitions.

The Spurs boss said: 'Sometimes in January you would find a couple of clubs thinking, 'we're not in the Champions League so maybe just release a couple from our roster' and that doesn't exist now.

'European competitions are still in the balance. So that probably adds another layer of difficulty to it. But we'll endeavour because there's definitely a need for us to reinforce.

'We'll just see how successful we are in that. Improving the team may be a bit challenging, but improving the depth of our squad, I think there's always possibilities out there.'

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Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou takes a swipe at his critics as he insists it's impossible to get everything right

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Ange Postecoglou has taken a swipe at his critics, dismissing them as perfectionists on an impossible quest for flawless football.

'In today's world we search for perfection and it doesn't exist,' said the Tottenham boss.

'Whatever road you go down there's going to be some pain and challenges.

'People say I should be more defensive minded so that means I need to temper my attacking approach. Make it more defensive to achieve what? Achieve perfection.

'And if you're too defensive, people say you should be a little bit more attacking, for what purpose? To be perfect. None of that exists.'

Postecoglou's team are 11th in the Premier League and he has been under fire for refusing to adjust his open style.

On Thursday he is up against Nottingham Forest, managed by Nuno Espirito Santo who was sacked after only 17 games by Spurs in 2021 because his style was too cautious.

'Some people will always just look in the black-and-white terms of just results,' said Postecoglou. 'If I'm winning then I'm great. My system is great, my beliefs are great, my philosophy is great and if I'm losing everything isn't.

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Football needs idealists like Ange Postecoglou. His Tottenham side are the most captivating in the Premier League era since Newcastle under Kevin Keegan, writes IAN HERBERT

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It is never a good sign when a football manager displays an iciness about his own team’s supporters.

Roy Hodgson’s passive-aggressive reference to ‘the famous Anfield support’, which he was not experiencing during his unhappy time as Liverpool manager, was ominous.

Ange Postecoglou did not seem entirely aligned, either, when asked about Spurs shipping 13 goals in three consecutive home games.

‘If people can’t see the obvious, I’m not going to point it out,’ he said after Sunday’s 6-3 home defeat by Liverpool. ‘If people want me to change my approach, it’s not going to change.’

Postecoglou cut a highly sensitive figure and found himself depicted on Sunday as a middle-aged Australian man who does not take the notion of winning games seriously. Yet there is something joyous about the attacking creed to which he adheres — his ‘religion’ as he has called it — at a time when football is narrowing into a data-driven homogeneity.

Premier League football is a world of grey pragmatism now, everyone clinging on for dear life. On Sunday, we witnessed an individual clinging to a philosophy and an aesthetic, regardless of the gathering storm.

How football needs that. Graeme Souness wrote in these pages two weeks ago about the hard watch that Premier League football has become at times — ‘too much playing in your own half and too much passing from side to side’ and often shorn of ‘unpredictability’.

A sequence of results which reads 3-4, 1-1, 5-0, 4-3, 3-6 is wilder than any Spurs fan wants, but Postecoglou has imbued spirit, after the grinding, soulless football under Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho — two grimly pragmatic men.

There are statistical signs that the Australian, whose squad is ravaged by injuries to eight key personnel, is heading in the right direction. Spurs have had more shots and more expected goals per game this season than last and scored more goals. They have created more big chances.

They have lost the ball less in their defensive third, conceded fewer shots and conceded fewer goals. By almost every useful metric, they are better than they were 12 months ago.

The data also points to a different mode of attack. The team’s number of ‘fast breaks’ — and goals from those breaks — has shot up, suggesting they have become far more reliant on counter-attacking. The number of sequences in which they pass the ball 10 times or more is markedly down. Their ‘average possession’ and ‘build-up breaks’ have dropped off, too, reflecting the shift to counter-attack.

The problem — and it is one which frustrates Souness — is the holes Tottenham are leaving all over the pitch. That might not have been a problem at Celtic for Postecoglou, but now his tactics are rumbled and weaknesses are spotted. This marauding Spurs team find themselves hugely dependent on the few players who can provide the defensive blanket when they lose the ball. Above all, central defender Micky van de Ven, whose hamstring problems have been a worry and forced Postecoglou to field Archie Gray, an 18-year-old, out of his natural position there against Liverpool.

Pape Matar Sarr, the midfield anchor, has a good engine but is inclined to be rash.

Dejan Kulusevski has been a wildcard — a better buy than many anticipated — but rival clubs could try to poach him if Spurs offer no prospect of trophies. In the meantime, Son Heung-min has lost his way and has contract uncertainty coming up.

Selling Richarlison would let Postecoglou bring in the players Spurs need: a versatile forward, a midfielder with a sharper brain than the current personnel and a defender who could provide cover.

Opportunities are there. Spurs have been offered the excellent former Everton full back Ben Godfrey, from Atalanta. But Richarlison, while frustrated by a lack of game time, is not keen to leave.

This is the most fascinating test of a football ideal since Kevin Keegan managed Newcastle United three decades ago, with a squad including Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand, Peter Beardsley, Keith Gillespie, David Ginola and Tino Asprilla — and sometimes fielded all five together.

‘That was his way and he wasn’t going to change it,’ Shearer said recently. ‘It cost him in the end, because we’d be so far ahead and kept going and going and still trying to score goals. And there are shades of that in this Tottenham team.’

This Spurs team look more fragile than Keegan’s Newcastle did and even Keegan displayed greater flexibility than Postecoglou.

Sunday’s Spurs side were as attack-minded as ever, despite rookie Gray’s presence in the rear and 24-year-old Djed Spence as a makeshift left back.

Even Kulusevski suggested, in the aftermath of the defeat, that the footballing ideal must be adaptable for difficult circumstances.

When it was put to him that control during matches was something Spurs ought to seek, he said: ‘If you want to get a result, maybe yeah. You have to think about how are we physically. “Who’s playing? How many games have we played the last week? Who are we playing?”’

Ferdinand, who left Keegan’s Newcastle for Spurs in 1997, said in a studio discussion with an invited Spurs audience last week that he felt there needed to some degree of compromise from Postecoglou. ‘That could be his downfall,’ Ferdinand said.

He cited the 4-1 defeat by Chelsea last season, when the team continued to attack after going down to nine men. ‘I remember him saying that day he was not going to change the way he was playing. The supporters were positive but would not react in the same way today.’

Whatever happens next, we will witness the same philosophy Postecoglou laid out in an interview on these pages a year back, not long after that defeat by Chelsea.

‘I don’t know any other way,’ he said. ‘In the broad church of football philosophies, I have stayed really strict to one religion. I went into a library of football books and got stuck on one section that was about attacking football. It’s the only space I feel comfortable in.’

We will remember him long after football’s drab pragmatists have gone.

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Everyone loves a goalfest but now Ange Postecoglou needs reinforcements to rescue his patched-up Spurs, writes MATT BARLOW

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Multi-goal thrillers are all very well when you're on the right end. Seven goals in a Thursday cup tie and this patch of North London had been bouncing. Nine goals on a Sunday had quite the opposite effect.

The place was virtually empty as Ange Postecoglou trudged around dutifully at the end, offering his festive appreciation for the support. It had been subdued long before that. Many of the Tottenham fans made for the exits when the fifth went in.

They should probably have known that would not be the end of it. There were another three goals to come and after Dominic Solanke slammed in the third for Spurs it came with a brief whiff of one of football's least likely comebacks.

It did not last long though, chased away when Luis Diaz scored Liverpool's sixth to give the visitors an emphatic victory. One they deserved for the control they exerted through the first hour of the game.

Arne Slot's side drew the chaos out of a Spurs game and that is no mean feat. They were excellent.

There was not a hint of the chaos that usually surrounded Postecoglou's team and that was the most sobering factor. That was the cold hard truth of the gap between these teams.

One at the top, fully formed, and one is thrashing about in midtable, in a bit of a mess.

When asked at the end of October about being 10th in the Premier League, the Spurs boss replied to say he expected the heat to be on if his team were still in the same position at Christmas but that he didn't intend to be 10th.

They are 11th and it is difficult to see how any changes significantly until he gets some of his key players back to fitness.

At the back, they are without four-fifths of his strongest defensive. Archie Gray is 18 years old and not a centre half despite performing ably in the role but the proposition was different against a team with title aspirations and confidence soaring.

'We've had shorter turnarounds than just about every opponent we've played so far,' grumbled Postecoglou, whose options were so limited he went in with the same team as started against United.

This meant a third start in eight days for Djed Spence, a misfit who waited two and a half years for his first start.

Sure enough, Spurs were flat, low on energy from the outset and forced into early mistakes at the back. Liverpool barely gave them room to move until they were 2-0 up.

Two headers, the result of constant pressure but soft goals from Tottenham's angle. No pressure on the cross for the first and no challenge on the header by Luis Diaz. Two players, neither of them natural defenders, trying and failing to take command of a cross for the second.

The only time they produced what we have come to recognise as the true spirit of a Postecoglou team was for five minutes in the first half around the goal by James Maddison.

Then Dominik Szoboszlai scored Liverpool's third as they sliced Spurs open with a long pass, a flick on, a jinking dribble and a return pass, and the reticence to throw caution to the wind made sense.

Solanke has been excellent in recent weeks, holding up the ball, carrying his team up the pitch and making Spurs tick. Here he was dominated by Virgil van Dijk.

Dejan Kulusevski, Tottenham's best player by some distance this season, scored the second and his fifth in five games, but the going was tough until the contest was effectively over.

He could usually be found barrelling around on his own, trying his utmost to force something out of nothing.

Heung-min Son out wide on the left was the player Postecoglou might have hoped would do damage in the areas behind Trent Alexander-Arnold, but Liverpool's right back gave him very few opportunities and still managed to be creative going forward.

There was little menace up front for Spurs in the first hour and barely any resistance at the back and this did not change until Liverpool declared at 5-1 and coasted home to the annoyance of Arne Slot.

The last half-hour was more akin to the usual Tottenham end-to-end mayhem but until then they looked for all the world what they are: patched-up, low on fuel and playing a brand of football too open for their own good against the strongest team in the Premier League.

Great fun for the neutral. 'Are you not entertained?' as Postecoglou quipped after winning 4-3 in the Carabao Cup quarter final against Manchester United on Thursday.

True enough, it is terrific fun. And perhaps, as Postecoglou insists, it will have its benefits in the long run, when they have strengthened the squad be that with returning players of new recruits.

'We're still in all the competitions so it's not going to get any easier,' he said. 'The schedule is not going to change.'

The manager needs something to help his team cope. Against a serious team like Liverpool, it looked like a mismatch, and Slot's team will be back soon in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

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Gary Neville names the one Liverpool star Arne Slot can't afford to lose to injury as Sky Sports pundit makes Rodri comparison

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Gary Neville has revealed the one player that Liverpool cannot afford to lose to injury after running riot against Spurs on Sunday evening.

Arne Slot's side extended their lead at the top of the table to four points - with a game in hand on others - thanks to a 6-3 victory at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Goals from Luis Diaz, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah wrapped up the victory that ensured their place at the top of league for Christmas.

After the match, Neville suggested that the Reds are 'clearly the best team' but revealed the one player who they cannot afford to lose amid their title charge.

‘Liverpool are clearly the best team in the Premier League at this moment in time,’ Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast after the clash.

‘They’re the clear favourites for the title. Man City’s drop-off has been spectacular, I’m not sure anyone really knows how it’s gone so badly wrong.

‘Chelsea had a tough game today but they’re doing well and having a good season.

‘I think the one team Liverpool need to watch are Arsenal if they can get their tail up and close that gap going in March and April.

‘But at this moment in time Liverpool are clear favourites. I think the biggest risk for them is injuries – if they were to lose Van Dijk and Salah that would hurt them.

'Van Dijk is like Rodri for Liverpool, he holds it all together. Keeping him fit is absolutely crucial.

‘There’s some big challenges coming up so we’re nowhere near the point that you can hand Liverpool the title but they’re in a great position and at this moment in time they’re by far the best team in the league and the table tells us that.’

Meanwhile, Arne Slot hailed his Liverpool players and insisted that his side could have scored more than the six they put past Tottenham.

‘It was maybe our best performance away from home although I really liked what I saw against Man Utd as well. It was total dominance and we outplayed them many times. Apart from scoring six goals, I think we could have scored more.’

In the last seven seasons when Liverpool have been top of the table at Christmas they have only won the league once and their Dutch boss refused to get carried away.

‘Of course it means something (to be top at Christmas). You always prefer to be where we are than in another position in the table. You know as well as I know – I have won the league once (with Feyenoord) – how hard it is to stay at the top,’ said Slot.

‘You have to be on top of your game for every minute of every game. That’s why it is so hard to win it. It is not easy to show up every three or four days. Last week you saw how it is easy to get a red card in one moment. These things can happen in a season.

'At Newcastle, we were 3-2 up and dropped in one situation and lost three points so that’s the Premier League. I didn’t expect Chelsea to drop points - it can happen in any game and that’s what makes the league so special, so many people want to watch it and that’s why we play at Christmas time,’ he added.

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