Rejuvenated Liverpool dents Tottenham’s Champions League dreams

Liverpool’s Scottish defender #26 Andrew Robertson (C) celebrates scoring the team’s second goal with Liverpool’s Dutch striker #18 Cody Gakpo (R), Liverpool’s Egyptian striker #11 Mohamed Salah (L) and Liverpool’s English defender #66 Trent Alexander-Arnold during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on May 5, 2024. (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP)

Jurgen Klopp said Liverpool’s 4-2 victory over Tottenham was a “mirror of their season” as they held off a late wobble to further dent Spurs’ hopes of a top-four Premier League finish on Sunday.

The Reds had won just one of their previous five league games to realistically end their shot at the title but were back in the groove as they raced into a 4-0 lead.

Mohamed Salah was restored to the starting line-up after his public spat with Klopp last weekend and opened the floodgates before Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott were also on target.

READ: Liverpool’s title bid dented by Man United draw, Spurs go fourth

Richarlison and Son Heung-min replied late on for Tottenham, but the damage to their chances of Champions League football next season was already done.

Klopp’s men are guaranteed to finish no lower than third and closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to five points with two games remaining.

“It’s a little bit of a mirror of the season. Really, really, really good until we were really rubbish and then, we were okay again,” said Klopp, who was taking charge of his penultimate game at Anfield.

“The moment you let them play, immediately, you see what they can do. If you don’t let them play, then you can hurt them.”

Spurs have now lost four consecutive games to leave Ange Postecoglou’s men still seven points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa with just nine left to play for.

Tottenham realistically needs to win all of their three remaining games, including at home to title-chasing Manchester City, to have any hope of reeling in Villa.

READ: Mohamed Salah caps fightback as Liverpool goes on top

But on this form, they may even struggle to see off Burnley and Sheffield United as Spurs have collapsed after a highly promising start to Postecoglou’s reign.

The Australian admitted after a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Thursday that his message was not getting through to his players and there was no reaction from the visitors until it was too late.`

“Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us,” said Postecoglou.

“At 4-0 you’ve got a mountain to climb but when we play like ourselves we always finish strong because we put pressure on the opposition.”

Elliott stunner

Salah had a war of words with Klopp on the touchline as he prepared to enter as a second-half substitute in a 2-2 draw at West Ham last weekend that sounded the death knell for Liverpool’s title ambitions.

The Egyptian’s drop-off in form since being injured at the Africa Cup of Nations has been a major factor.

But he scored his first goal from open play in nine games to inspire a Liverpool display far more in keeping with the quality showing that had got them into the title race in the first place.

Gakpo’s cross to the back post picked out Salah completely unmarked and Guglielmo Vicario’s weak hand failed to keep out his header on 16 minutes.

Robertson got the second goal Liverpool’s dominance deserved before the break when he tapped in the rebound after Salah’s initial effort was parried by Vicario.

Tottenham were just as poor at the start of the second period to take their tally of goals conceded in the last four games to 13.

Gakpo’s precise header from Elliott’s cross found the bottom corner on 50 minutes.

Elliott then scored the goal of the game when he blasted into the top corner from outside the box.

Postecoglou introduced Richarlison and James Maddison as part of a triple change on the hour mark and the visitors were transformed in the final stages.

Richarlison swept home Brennan Johnson’s cross and then teed up Son to score for the fifth consecutive game against Liverpool.

Alisson Becker needed to produce a vital stop from Richarlison to prevent a grandstand finish in seven minutes of added time.

Liverpool’s defensive lapses showed why they still need a miracle collapse by Arsenal and Manchester City in the final fortnight of the season to have any chance of ending Klopp’s nine-year stay as Premier League champions.

But Tottenham’s response was too little, too late to help their ambitions of joining the Reds in the Champions League next season.