Coach Arne Slot's team moved four points clear of Chelsea with a game in hand after easily beating Tottenham.
Two headers in the first 31 minutes from Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister gave The Kop a comfortable lead. James Maddison narrowed the gap four minutes before half-time. However, Liverpool still managed to restore the two-goal lead through Dominik Szoboszlai in stoppage time.
In the second half, Slot's team still showed no signs of stopping. Szoboszlai returned the favor with a cross for Salah to tap the ball into the net from close range in the 54th and 61st minutes. With the score 5-1, the match was almost decided.
Some Spurs fans had already left with around 30 minutes left. However, the Spurs suddenly rose up to score two goals in quick succession through Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke, thereby lighting up hopes of a comeback. However, a clever counter-attack by the visitors extinguished all hopes, when Salah passed the ball to Diaz to score the decisive goal.
"We dominated completely, we were much, much better than them. Today, apart from scoring six goals, I think we could have scored even more. It's always like that, you can't score every chance," the Dutch tactician said after the win over Spurs.
There are many ways to measure Liverpool's impressive start under Slot, and the games against Tottenham are one such measure.
Arsenal needed a set-piece to win 1-0 at home to Tottenham in September. Manchester City lost 4-0 at home to Spurs and were beaten away in the Carabao Cup. Chelsea won 4-3 earlier this month but needed to come back from 2-0 down.
Liverpool may have conceded three goals, but they were in a different league to Tottenham. They finished with an expected goals (xG) of 4.61, bettered by only four other away teams in a Premier League game over the past five years: Chelsea vs Southampton earlier this month (5.43), Man City vs Norwich in February 2022 (5.08), Liverpool vs Leeds in September 2021 (4.71) and Man City vs Brighton in July 2020 (4.64).
After the Christmas break, Slot's side return to Anfield to host Leicester City, while Tottenham travel to Nottingham Forest.
"What does it mean to be top of the table on Christmas Day? Of course it means something because you always prefer to be where you are rather than somewhere else in the table. Winning the Premier League is always difficult. You have to keep going, keep going. The players need to understand that the season only ends in May," Slot added.
