Liverpool vs Tottenham score, result, stats, analysis from Premier League as Salah strikes in latest Spurs loss

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Joe Wright
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Mohamed Salah celebrates a Liverpool goal
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Liverpool kept their slim Premier League title hopes alive after an emphatic 4-2 victory over top-four-chasing Tottenham at Anfield.

In Jurgen Klopp's penultimate home game in charge, the Reds eased into a 4-0 lead after an hour in the Merseyside sunshine, Mohamed Salah opening the scoring after being restored to the starting lineup following a spat with Klopp in the draw with West Ham.

Andrew Robertson made it 2-0 before halftime, and when Cody Gakpo headed in a third five minutes after the restart, Tottenham's hopes of a comeback seemed to be over. Harvey Elliott whipped home the goal of the game nine minutes later to make the scoreline more emphatic.

Liverpool were punished for easing off at that point as substitute Richarlison pulled a goal back before teeing up Son Heung-min to score a second for Spurs, but that was as good as their fightback got. Ange Postecoglou's team have now lost four league matches for the first time in 20 years, and their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League are all but over.

MORE: The Premier League clubs who have qualified for Europe for next season

Liverpool vs Tottenham score

  Fulltime Goalscorers
Liverpool 4 Salah 15', Robertson 45', Gakpo 50', Elliott 59'
Tottenham 2 Richarlison 72', Son 77'

Lineups:

Liverpool (4-3-3, right to left): 1. Alisson (GK) — 66. Trent Alexander-Arnold, 78. Jarell Quansah, 4. Virgil van Dijk, 26. Andrew Robertson (2. Joe Gomez, 64') —19. Harvey Elliott (8. Dominik Szoboszlai, 83'), 3. Wataru Endo (43. Stefan Bajcetic, 65'), 10. Alexis Mac Allister (38. Ryan Gravenberch, 75')  — 11. Mohamed Salah, 18. Cody Gakpo, 7. Luis Diaz (9. Darwin Nunez, 75').

Tottenham (4-3-3, right to left): 13. Guglielmo Vicario (GK) — 23. Pedro Porro, 17. Cristian Romero, 37. Micky van de Ven, 12. Emerson Royal (4. Oliver Skipp, 61')  — 8. Yves Bissouma, 29. Pape Sarr (18. Giovani Lo Celso, 75'),  30. Rodrigo Bentancur (9. Richarlison, 61') — 21. Dejan Kulusevski (10. James Maddison, 61'), 7. Son Heung-min, 22. Brennan Johnson

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Salah had already missed three opportunities before he headed in Gakpo's cross to the far post, Emerson Royal apparently oblivious to the Egypt forward's presence behind him.

Robertson could hardly miss after Salah had been denied by a good save from Guglielmo Vicario, one of the few Spurs players who performed to an acceptable standard in the first half, and the game was effectively over shortly after the restart as Gakpo climbed above Cristian Romero to power home a header.

Elliott's goal was the pick of the bunch, but again it owed a debt to Spurs and Emerson. The full-back's poor defensive header went straight to Salah, who nudged it to his midfield team-mate, and Elliott took full advantage of the lack of a challenge to curl a shot into the top corner. In the process, Salah became the first player in Premier League history to register at least 10 goals and 10 assists in three consecutive seasons.

At that point, Liverpool eased off just a little too much. Richarlison turned home Brennan Johnson's low cross after Virgil van Dijk and Jarell Quansah seemed to have forgotten he was there, and the Brazilian set up Son to fire past Alisson just five minutes later.

The visitors applied a little more pressure without reward and, indeed, it could have been worse had Salah's second goal not been ruled out for an offside against Darwin Nunez.

Liverpool vs Tottenham stats

Liverpool Stat Tottenham
25 Shots 11
13 Shots on target 6
3.22 Expected goals 1.16
45% Possession 55%
420 Passes 521
8 Corners 3
14 Fouls 12
1 Yellow cards 4
7 Offsides 2

Liverpool vs Tottenham analysis

Salah smiles again to keep title hopes alive... just

There was plenty of debate around whether Salah would start today's game, even though Klopp insisted this week that their apparent tiff was over. Perhaps there shouldn't have been.

Salah is not quite at the world-class levels of previous seasons — he made a mess of two or three chances today — yet he has still hit double figures for goals and assists. He remains a player Liverpool will find it profoundly difficult to replace, whenever he decides to leave.

Salah's impact helped to kill Spurs' optimism of a result quickly and allowed Liverpool to take control. The Reds can still win the title thanks to today's win, although it's highly unlikely given that one more Arsenal win will see them out of the race, but they can still enjoy these closing weeks of the season — especially with Salah smiling again.

Spurs at risk of ruining promise of Postecoglou's first season

When Spurs won the controversial reverse fixture, there was a developing storyline about Postecoglou creating a title-winning side in his first season in England. After today, his team are now on their worst losing run for 20 years.

Consecutive defeats to Newcastle United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have marked the first time since 2004 that Spurs have lost four league games in a row. Those results also mean their chances of finishing in the top four, even after Aston Villa's loss to Brighton & Hove Albion today, are slim at best.

Although they halved the deficit here before the end, this was a humbling day for Spurs. They never truly made this a contest after going a goal behind and there was an argument between Romero and Emerson Royal after the halftime whistle blew. It all adds to a sense that the early positivity of 'Angeball' has long gone, and that this initially promising season will end up being one of disappointment.

Liverpool vs Tottenham updates, highlights, and commentary

Fulltime: Liverpool 4-2 Tottenham

It's all over at Anfield, and Liverpool's title challenge is still (just about) alive. They were in total control against Spurs until they handed the visitors a route back into the game, but this was still a deserved win. Spurs have now lost four in a row in the league for the first time in 20 years, and their Champions League hopes are all but over.

90 + 7 mins:  Nunez has another chance on the break, but Vicario races off his line to make a good block. Spurs are still pushing, but their late rally seems to have fizzled out.

90 + 5 mins: SALAH — no, offside! Darwin Nunez was just behind the last defender before squaring for Salah to finish a counterattack.

90 mins: Richarlison runs right through the heart of the defence again, but Alexander-Arnold covers  to concede the corner. He's made a real difference to Spurs in this second half.

87 mins: Son's throughball to Richarlison is terrific, and Alisson has to make a really good low save. Gomez acrobatically gets a foot to the ball ahead of Johnson, and there will be a penalty check for this for a high boot... but VAR says there's nothing doing. On we go.

80 mins: Son works his way into the box but just loses his footing as he tries to take on Van Dijk, and Liverpool see out the danger. At the other end, Van de Van decides to leave a loose ball bouncing across the box, and Salah makes a complete mess of it, swinging his right foot at it but turning it wide.

77 mins: GOAL! Welly, welly, welly! Richarlison receives a pass from Oliver Skipp and, once more, he's in acres of space in the middle of the Liverpool box. The Brazilian turns and tees up Son, who shoots low into the bottom-left corner. Liverpool have handed Spurs a route back into this game.

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72 mins: GOAL! Well, well, well — Spurs have a goal back! Bissouma plays a really nice throughball to set Johnson running in behind substitute Joe Gomez. He plays in a low cross, and with Van Dijk and Quansah having disappeared, Richarlison has a simple finish from six yards.

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68 mins: Spurs are drifting towards a fourth consecutive Premier League defeat. They haven't had a run like that in 20 years, when they lost six games in a row from October 10 to November 27, 2004.

Okay, their past four games have been against Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool. But for a team said to be making great progress under Postecoglou, this has been a really worrying string of performances.

64 mins: Here's a big moment for Liverpool fans: Stefan Bajcetic, who hasn't played a Premier League game for more than a year, is on for this final half-hour or so. The promising young midfielder has had a horrible time with injuries. Hopefully, those days are now behind him.

61 mins: Postecoglou makes three changes, one of which is James Maddison for Dejan Kulusevski, who I must admit I'd forgotten was on the pitch. Maddison's first act is to win a free-kick, which he then strikes into the wall. Elliott wins a foul against Bissouma, who is booked for his reaction.

59 mins: GOAL! Elliott makes it 4-0! Emerson heads away a cross but only as far as Salah, who nudges the ball to his team-mate. Elliott easily skips away from Rodrigo Bentancur's challenge and, with no Spurs players closing him down, curls a superb effort into the top corner from the edge of the box. This is threatening to get humiliating for the visitors.

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57 mins: Johnson, who spent most of the first half not really doing anything, is now the only Spurs playing doing something. He closes down Alisson and blocks his kick, but the ball doesn't threaten Liverpool's goal. Emerson then fouls Salah and goes into the book.

54 mins: Liverpool are playing with joy and freedom now. Alexander-Arnold finds himself in the left-forward position, but his decision to cut back onto his left foot allows Spurs to clear. On the attack, Pedro Porro's cross is met by the diving head of Johnson, and Alisson is finally given something to do.

50 mins: GOAL! Just like that, Liverpool get a third! Emerson Royal is caught dithering on the ball and Elliott hangs up a cross towards the penalty spot. Gakpo jumps above Romero and powers a good header beyond Vicario. Awful, awful from Tottenham.

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46 mins: Spurs come flying out of the blocks and Jarell Quansah is required to make a good challenge on Son on the edge of the Liverpool box. Liverpool can break, but Salah's effort is a waste.

Kickoff: Second half

Can Spurs get back into this?

Halftime: Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham

Liverpool are two goals to the good, and in total control. What does Postecoglou do now?

45 mins: GOAL! Liverpool get their second before the break! Mac Allister splits the defence with a clever pass to Alexander-Arnold. His deep cross finds the completely unmarked Robertson, who nudges the ball to Salah. Vicario makes a good one-handed save from the Egyptian's shot, but Robertson is on hand to poke in the rebound. Too easy for Liverpool.

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42 mins: Over! Spurs are caught out again playing out from the back, this time from Romero's poor pass. Alexander-Arnold shifts back onto his left foot, but he can't keep the shot down. The visitors are living dangerously.

41 mins: Emerson Royal hurls himself in front of Alexander-Arnold's shot from the edge of the box. The Liverpool man lobs the loose ball towards Diaz, who tries a spectacular volley that flies a long way wide. This game is still being played at Liverpool's pace, and mostly in Tottenham's half.

36 mins: Some tentative shouts for a penalty after Andrew Robertson's shot seems to come off Romero's arm, but VAR isn't having that — if it did hit the defender's hand, it was minimal contact. Alexis Mac Allister is then the latest to break into Spurs' box down the Liverpool right, but his cut-back is behind his team-mates and Spurs survive again.

34 mins: Suddenly, chances at both ends! Liverpool win back the ball on the edge of the Spurs box and Gakpo wants a penalty for going over an outstretched foot, but the appeal is waved away (it was one of those where there was some contact but also a pretty huge dive). Spurs break, but they can't make their numbers count. Liverpool respond in kind and Salah thinks he's in, but Emerson Royal does superbly to win a goal kick.

30 mins: Liverpool are attacking the Spurs left at will. Emerson Royal isn't getting enough cover from the forwards and he's being outnumbered by Trent Alexander-Arnold and Salah. The Reds are in complete control right now.

28 mins: Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville said Vicario has played recently "like he's got frogs in his pants". Let's hope Spurs haven't croaked already.

I'll get my coat.

It's still 1-0, by the way.

22 mins: Micky van de Ven fails to clear and Luis Diaz has a chance to shoot, but Vicario blocks well at his near post and the ball is scrambled behind for a corner. The first one is glanced away by Romero; the second is caught by the keeper.

19 mins: Spurs have looked a bit deflated since that goal. They started the game pretty well, but conceding a pretty soft goal like that has sapped some of their energy.

15 mins: GOAL! Salah makes no mistake this time! Cody Gakpo cuts in from the left and hangs a cross towards the far post, where Salah is on hand to head through the hands of Vicario. The forward timed his run well and Emerson Royal just let him go, so he can scarcely have hoped for an easier finish — one from almost the precise same patch of grass as his offside chance a minute earlier.

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14 mins: Salah somehow rattles the base of the post from point-blank range rather than scoring, but he was a long, long way offside anyway. Spurs aren't happy that the flag wasn't raised given it was a clear decision.

10 mins: Mohamed Salah comes so close to scoring! Two minutes after his deflected cross looped back off the crossbar, Salah runs through into the Spurs box and tries a low right-footed shot, which Guglielmo Vicario saves well with his leg. Harvey Elliott thinks he's scored the rebound, but Cristian Romero is on the line to block the shot.

3 mins: Victor Wanyama scored an unbelievable goal in front of the Kop in this fixture back in 2018. Yves Bissouma has tried just a shot from a similar position, and the ball is still rising into the sky. Spurs have started well, though.

Kickoff: First half

We're underway in the Liverpool sunshine.

10 mins before kickoff: Klopp takes in an Anfield home game for the penultimate time.

30 mins before kickoff: A potentially big result for Spurs as Brighton hold on to beat Aston Villa 1-0 in the earlier kickoff. That means Ange Postecoglou's men could close to within a point of fourth place if they can win their two games in hand — including today's match at Anfield.

Team news

Mohamed Salah does indeed start for Liverpool alongside Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz in attack.

Spurs start with Brennan Johnson in attack, which likely means Son will start down the middle. James Maddison is benched. Yves Bissouma comes into midfield and Emerson Royal is back in at full-back.

1 hour 15 mins before kickoff: The assumption is Mohamed Salah will start today despite that rather strange little feud with Jurgen Klopp. If Spurs want goals here, chances are they'll come from Son Heung-min.

1 hour 45 mins before kickoff: The permutations for today's game are quite straightforward: if Liverpool don't win, the title is officially gone. It would obviously take a huge turn of events for them to win it now anyway, but anything other than three points today would make it mathematically impossible for them to finish above both Arsenal and Manchester City.

For Tottenham, it could be the end of their Champions League hopes, although that also depends on the Aston Villa result at Brighton. That game is goalless at halftime, so as it stands, fourth place will not be out of Spurs' reach regardless of their result at Anfield.

2 hours before kickoff: It's a glorious day in England's north west. Let's hope the football is also a sight to behold. When these teams face one another, it usually is...

Liverpool vs Tottenham kickoff time

This Premier League clash takes place at Anfield in Liverpool, UK and kicks off on Sunday, May 5 at 4:30 p.m. BST (local time in the UK).

Here's how that time translates across some of the major territories:

  Date Kickoff time
USA Sun, May 5 11:30 a.m. ET
Canada Sun, May 5 11:30 a.m. ET
UK Sun, May 5 4:30 p.m. BST
Australia Mon, May 6 1:30 a.m. AEST
India Sun, May 5 9:00 p.m. IST

Liverpool vs Tottenham lineups, team news

Mohamed Salah was named in the starting lineup despite his spat with Jurgen Klopp after the West Ham game. Stefan Bajcetic was handed a place in the squad after missing practically all the season until now due to injury.

Joel Matip and Thiago Alcantara have been ruled out for the rest of the season. Diogo Jota hasn't trained this week so misses out, but Virgil van Dijk was passed fit despite missing the majority of team training in the build-up.

Liverpool XI (4-3-3, right to left):  Alisson (GK) — Alexander-Arnold, Quansah, Van Dijk, Robertson — Elliott, Endo, Mac Allister — Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.

Liverpool subs (9): Gomez, Konate, Szoboszlai, Nunez, Jones, Gravenberch, Bajcetic, Kelleher, Bradley

Tottenham Hotspur, who are already without defender Destiny Udogie, were dealt a fresh blow as defender Ben Davies (calf) and RB Leipzig loanee Timo Werner (hamstring) will also be out for the rest of the season with respective injuries.

Fraser Forster, Manor Solomon and Ryan Sessegnon remain long-term casualties. Out-of-form James Maddison was dropped for the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in midweek and again started this one on the bench.

Tottenham XI (4-3-3, right to left): Vicario (GK) — Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Emerson Royal — Bissouma, Sarr, Bentancur — Kulusevski, Son, Johnson.

Tottenham subs (9): Skipp, Hojbjerg, Dragusin, Richarlison, Maddison, Gil, Lo Celso, Austin, Moore

Liverpool vs Tottenham head to head

Liverpool comfortably lead the all-time head to head between these teams. Their 2-1 defeat to Spurs in the reverse fixture was their only loss to the north London club in the past 13 meetings in all competitions.

Liverpool wins Draw Tottenham wins
89 44 49
Biggest win: 7-0 (Sep. 1978)   Biggest win: 7-2 (Apr. 1963)

Liverpool vs Tottenham live stream, TV channel

Here's how to watch this Premier League match across selected areas of the world's major regions:

Region TV Streaming
USA Telemundo Peacock
Canada —

Fubo Canada
UK Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League Sky Go Extra, Now TV
Australia — Optus Sport
India Star Sports Select HD1, Star Sports Select 2 JioTV, Hotstar VIP

STREAM LIVERPOOL VS. SPURS FOR FREE

FREE TRIAL

USA: This game is available for live streaming on the Peacock Network. Spanish viewers can watch the match on Telemundo which is also available to stream on Fubo, with new users able to sign up to a FREE trial.

Canada: Every Premier League game this season is live streaming exclusively via Fubo in Canada. New users can sign up to a FREE trial.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport.

UK: This match is available for live broadcast on Sky Sports network with streaming options on Sky GO and Now TV.

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Author(s)
Joe Wright Photo
Joe Wright

Joe is Senior Editor (Football) at Sporting News.