LIVERPOOL: 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 (May 5).
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.
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 need to win all of their three remaining games, including at home to title-chasing Manchester City, to have any hope of reeling in Villa.
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.”
