Liverpool shattered Tottenham hopes because Liverpool won today.
Liverpool dealt a crushing blow to Tottenham’s hopes of making it into the Premier League’s top four with a 4-2 victory.
Tottenham desperately needed a win at Anfield to keep their chances alive for catching up to fourth-placed Villa, but instead, they suffered their fourth consecutive loss, putting their Champions League aspirations in serious jeopardy.
Villa currently sit seven points ahead of Tottenham in fifth place, with Tottenham having a game in hand. However, even if Tottenham win that game, they’ll still miss out on a top-four finish if Unai Emery’s Aston Villa secure just one win from their remaining two matches.
Mohamed Salah made a return to the Liverpool lineup after being left out in their previous match against West Ham. There was some drama surrounding Salah, who had a disagreement with Klopp before coming on as a substitute in the last game. Afterward, Salah hinted at tension by mentioning “fire” if he talked about the incident.
In what could be one of Klopp’s final matches in charge after nine years at the helm, Liverpool got off to a flying start, with Salah scoring his 25th goal of the season with a well-placed header in the 16th minute from Cody Gakpo’s cross.
Liverpool doubled their lead just before halftime, with Andrew Robertson finding the net from close range after Salah’s initial shot was saved by Guglielmo Vicario.
The misery continued for Tottenham in the second half, as Gakpo and Harvey Elliott combined for Liverpool’s third and fourth goals. Gakpo headed in a cross from Elliott in the 50th minute, before Elliott himself scored a stunning curler from 20 yards out in the 59th minute.
Tottenham did manage to pull back somewhat with goals from Richarlison and Son Heung-min in the 72nd and 77th minutes respectively, but it was too little too late for them.
Liverpool’s win keeps them in the hunt mathematically for the title, although realistically, Arsenal’s five-point lead with just two games remaining makes it a tall order.
A win for Villa combined with Tottenham’s loss would have secured a Champions League spot for Emery’s side. However, Villa couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain, suffering a late 87th-minute goal from Joao Pedro, condemning them to a second painful defeat in four days.