Tottenham vs Liverpool LIVE: Result and reaction as teams play out nine-goal thriller in London

The home side get us underway in north London!

Both sides are in the tunnel at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and we should be underway in around five minutes.

A win for Liverpool will see them top of the Premier League table at Christmas for the first time since 2020-21. However, the Reds have only won the title in one of the last seven top-flight campaigns in which they’ve been top at Christmas, doing so in 2019-20.

Having conceded just three goals in their first eight Premier League games this season, Liverpool have now conceded 10 in their last seven.

Mohamed Salah has been involved in 22 of Liverpool’s 31 Premier League goals this season (71%), by far the highest share of any player for a side so far this term. He has 13 goals and nine assists, and could become the first player in Premier League history to reach double figures for both before Christmas in a single campaign.

“A Christmas present to Liverpool from Everton: Sean Dyche's 0-0 draw with Chelsea means Arne Slot's side are guaranteed to be top at Christmas.

“A big day at Tottenham for, among others, Djed Spence who, if he plays left-back, will be Mohamed Salah's immediate opponent today.

“Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones, who were both sent off here last season, start on the bench.”

In his own press conference, Liverpool boss Arne Slot said that he tells his side “a few things regularly enough”, because if not, “they tend to forget!”

“Re-application is so important for a team. Maybe small details change, as football changes, but the main message has always been the same,” he added.

On Spurs, he added: “I really have to give them credit because if I look at Tottenham, they have always been a certain brand and identity and [Ange] Postecoglou has given them that identity back completely. It is a joy to watch them.”

“I hope, hope, hope he wins a trophy, but not the League Cup! A fan for the Europa League. Trophies are important and his brand of football is important. If he wins, then you can stop talking about his style being too attacking.”

Tottenham have lost nine of their last 11 Premier League games against sides starting the day top of the table, with both exceptions coming away against Manchester City (2-2 in August 2019, 3-2 in February 2022). 

Spurs have kept just one clean sheet in their last 23 Premier League home games, a 4-0 win against Everton earlier this season. They’re winless in their last three at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (D1 L2), last having a longer run without a home win in November/December 2013 (4).

Postecoglou’s side have scored more goals in the opening 15 minutes of games than any other side in the Premier League this season (9), with five of those coming in their last two games.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Ange Postecoglou said that “a big part of our game is entertainment” and that the win over United was an example of that.

“You go to a game to feel emotions that maybe in your day to day you don’t get to experience. That’s what we love about it.

“There’s a lot of suffering when watching a game but if you come out on the right side, it’s exhilarating.

“We will play our football as that is what is winning us games. Arne Slot has come in and it’s not easy when you’re taking over from the status of Jurgen Klopp. They are settled with the quality they have but on our day we are pretty good opposition.”

Tottenham won this exact fixture 2-1 last season, last winning consecutive home league games against Liverpool between 2008 and 2012 (a run of five).

Liverpool have lost just two of their last 23 Premier League games against Tottenham (W15 D6) and have scored at least once in each of their last 17 against Spurs.

This fixture has seen more 90th minute winning goals than any other in Premier League history, with six.

Liverpool head into this match at the top of the table, though they could kick-off in second if Chelsea win their match over Everton.

If the Reds win, they will go above Chelsea whatever their result is, and they will be top at Christmas – if both sides were to win, Slot’s men would be top by two points and with a game in hand.

Spurs sit in 11th with 23 points, and could climb as high as seventh with a win today.

The manager who Daniel Levy wanted gave his verdict on Tottenham Hotspur’s modern-day team. “They are always a joy to watch,” he said. He had been an interested onlooker for years, watching on from abroad, seduced by the glamour of their flair players. “I watch a lot of Match Of The Day and [with] David Ginola, Paul Gascoigne, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart. They have always been a certain brand and a certain identity,” he added.

It could have been his brand, too. Because the man eulogising about Spurs had turned down the chance to coach them. He did not say so explicitly, because that is not Arne Slot’s way. He prefers not to talk about the expiring deals of his players, in Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. Nor does he want to discuss Tottenham’s attempts to appoint him in 2023. “I think it’s the same answer that I always give you about Mo’s contract situation and those things,” he smiled.

Slot is more comfortable celebrating the man they appointed a couple of weeks after he decided to stay at Feyenoord and signed a new contract. An exhaustive search that seemed to take in Julian Nagelsmann, Mauricio Pochettino, Vincent Kompany, Roberto De Zerbi and Luis Enrique ended with Ange Postecoglou becoming Tottenham manager.