Díaz and Salah double up in leaders' statement win

Liverpool stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to four points, having played one game fewer than second-placed Chelsea, with the latest illustration of their remorseless cut and thrust under Arne Slot.

- David Hytner

Well done, boys, good process.

It was an occasion when Tottenham, playing their way, the Ange Postecoglou way, with zero compromises, were taken to pieces. They conceded six but it could and should have been double figures. Time and again, Liverpool sliced through and a prominent detail at the end of a wild afternoon was the glaring nature of some of their misses.

In the corresponding fixture last season, Luis Díaz had a goal disallowed incorrectly for offside in the 34th minute at 0-0. It was a monumental muck-up between the officials and the VAR team in a game that Spurs won 2-1. Here, Díaz had his revenge, scoring two and running amok. He was not the only star in red. Mohamed Salah got two goals of his own and seemed to have the freedom of the pitch at times. Liverpool's other scorers were Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Spurs were staring at a historic drubbing when Salah scored his second for 5-1 just after the hour and maybe they can say that they continued to fight. They were able to keep the margin of defeat relatively tight in the context of the yawning chasm between the teams. James Maddison had scored for 2-1 in the first half. Dejan Kulusevski, who never stopped, and Dominic Solanke got them back to 5-3 before Díaz's late second.