Tottenham 3 Liverpool 6: Reds tighten grip on top as Salah, Diaz and Co run Spurs ragged in bonkers nine-goal thriller

NOTHING could save Spurs this time.

Not the referee or linesmen inside the stadium or the VAR operator at Stockley Park. Certainly not Tottenham’s absolutely shocking defence.

While last season’s meeting between these two provided us with the biggest cock-up in VAR, this was a walk in the park for the officials.

Because like everyone else, they were able to just watch in total bemusement at another bonkers game at the Tottenham Stadium.

Weirdly, despite the fact they conceded three times, this was one of Liverpool’s easiest wins of the season and they will be four points clear at Christmas with a game in hand.

You hate to think what the aggregate scoreline will be when these two teams meet in the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

In October 2023, it was Luis Diaz whose goal was incorrectly disallowed for offside after the VAR mistakenly believed the on-field decision had been to award the goal, allowing Spurs to win 2-1.

So it was only right that Diaz should start and finish the scoring. After heading the first,Alexis Mac Allister made it 2-0 and while James Maddison pulled one back, shambolic Spurs could not reach half-time without conceding again as Dominik Szoboszlai nodded the third.

Mo Salah struck twice for goals no 17 and 18 of the season before Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke both scored – only for Diaz to grab his second.

Yet Liverpool could easily have got 10 goals. While Spurs continue to be without keeper Guglielmo Vicario and centre-backs Sergio Romero and Micky van de Ven, this was still embarrassing.

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Before the game, Spurs fans protested against chairman Daniel Levy and the club ownership. There were only a few hundred disgruntled supporters although a bigger protest is expected and this result will not help their mood.

Because still, the performances under Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou will divide opinion and they are clearly not learning from their lessons.

For example, after what happened in the second half three days earlier, when he gifted Manchester United two goals, you would have thought Fraser Forster would have been a bit more careful when the ball was at his feet.

Yet staggeringly just two minutes into the game, his attempted chip to Djed Spence landed at the grateful feet of Mo Salah who rushed his shot and fired into the side netting.

Incredibly, in the first 18 minutes alone, Salah had five good chances which included a shot against the bar.

So Tottenham could not argue that Liverpool did not deserve their lead halfway inside the first half.

Diaz got between Pedro Porro and Radu Dragusin to score with an excellent header although this was all down to Alexander-Arnold’s stunning cross who then had Diaz pretend to polish his boot.

Alexander-Arnold was excellent for Liverpool although he was lucky, at 0-0, to avoid conceding a penalty after shoving over Maddison.

Liverpool’s second came when both Spence and Szoboszlai both jumped to meet Andy Robertson’s cross and the ball looped into the air for Mac Allister who used his head to plant an effort past Forster.

Mac Allister was then guilty of offering Spurs a route back when he failed to control a pass from Alexander-Arnold under a challenge from Kulusevski. Maddison took a couple of touches before curling his effort into the bottom right corner.

Yet at least, you would have thought Tottenham could get to half-time yet this proved too difficult.

Alexander-Arnold’s left-footed punt upfield was met with a header by Szoboszlai and Salah ran onto the flick. Just when Spurs thought Salah would release Diaz, he delivered a reverse pass to Szoboszlai who buried a shot through Forster’s legs.

After failing to score five goals in that first half, Salah joined the party. In a goalline scramble, Archie Gray delivered blocks from Cody Gakpo and Szoboszlai and Salah had a simple tap-in.

Szoboszlai squared brilliantly to give Salah another easy chance for 5-1 and even though Kulusevski pulled one back with a volley and Solanke struck against his former club, there was never going to be a comeback.

Just to make sure, Salah delivered an assist for Diaz who stuck the ball in the corner past Fraser Forster.

At the end, the final whistle was greeted with jeers but not in the away end who are loving life under Arne Slot. And pretty grateful he did not join Tottenham 18 months ago.