Jurgen Klopp has no doubts about Mohamed Salah's quality and believes the forward can play a key role in Liverpool achieving "something special" this season.

Liverpool will head into Saturday's match at Wolves 10th in the Premier League, 10 points behind fourth-placed Manchester United in the battle for Champions League places.

The Reds, who are also out of both domestic cups and face Real Madrid in the Champions League, have not had Salah at his brilliant best this season.

Although Salah is Liverpool's joint-top scorer in the league this season, he has netted only seven times in 19 matches. Across his first five campaigns at Anfield, he tallied 118 top-flight goals.

This comes after a close-season in which Salah signed a lucrative new Liverpool contract as team-mate Sadio Mane was allowed to leave.

But Klopp came to the defence of his star man ahead of the Wolves game, telling reporters: "That attitude and these kind of things are not Mo's problem.

"Mo's a world-class athlete, so he's the first in, last out, trains hard. Now he's not scoring, but there's people out there that think, 'why did they give Klopp a contract?', so that's how it is in our world.

"It's completely fine. If we don't deliver in the moments, if there's criticism, it's no problem. 

"You can question character, knowledge, ability, everything. You have the right to do everything, but you cannot score the amount of goals Mo scored if you are not an outstanding, world-class football player."

He added: "There are moments when Mo of course would have scored last year. You think that had something to do with the new contract or whatever?

"That's just not right. Things are like they are and the only way we can stop all these questions and discussions is by performing to our top, top level and that's what we have to do and what we will work on.

"We are really on it, and we are still straight, positive, we want to play in the games and we believe in our chances to reach something special even this year.

"It's not great to be not leader of the pack, but we are in a position where we can improve a lot the situation in the table and we have to start tomorrow and continue from there."

Mohamed Salah is "suffering" after seeing Liverpool's "well-drilled machine" frontline disbanded this season, according to Jurgen Klopp.

Sadio Mane left for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich prior to this term, while Roberto Firmino has seen his role diminished after the arrival of Darwin Nunez and more recently Cody Gakpo.

Egypt international Salah remains the constant in Klopp's front three, though he has struggled in front of goal this campaign – converting just 11.7 per cent of his chances for seven Premier League goals.

That mark may seem poor for the three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner, whose previous lowest conversion rate for Liverpool was 14.4 per cent when he scored 19 in the 2019-20 campaign.

"Of course he is suffering," said Klopp ahead of Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round clash with in-form Brighton and Hove Albion. "It is specific, offensive play that requires a lot of work and a lot of information."

Salah, Firmino and Mane fired Liverpool to a Champions League crown and the Premier League title, though that front three are now a distant memory at Anfield.

"It was a well-drilled machine the front three, everything was clear what we were doing," the German added.

"You create a feeling about a lot of these things, about where your team-mate is and where to pass the ball without looking."

Gakpo and Nunez are among the new faces tasked with reinventing Liverpool's attacking fortunes but Klopp acknowledged it will take time for his side to adapt.

"Now we have Cody as a really important asset, like a connector, he can play the wing and the centre as well," he added.

"When Darwin is playing there he is obviously more high up, going in behind. We never played with a nine before, even when Sadio played in the position he was dropping in moments.

"It is all good if they would all be in and we could build something, but we haven't been able to do that yet."

Diogo Jota is nearing a return to bolster a Reds attacking line-up in desperate need of some form, yet Klopp believes Liverpool – who are ninth in the league – have greater concerns than a misfiring attack.

"If you had scored hundreds of goals in the past and now you are not scoring then that is the first thing you would think about but that is not our problem at the moment," he said.

"But usually you have a real basis to build on and that is what we don't have. The problem is you need time and nobody wants to invest time.

"I wish everything would be easier again and that already we had qualified for finals at the end of the season. This situation is not perfect but the basis of the last two games is something I like."

Erling Haaland's extraordinary first season for Manchester City has seen him beat last season's Premier League Golden Boot haul after just 19 games in the competition.

The former Borussia Dortmund striker reached 25 league goals for the season with a hat-trick against Wolves on Sunday.

A first-half header was followed by a penalty early in the second half, before Haaland stroked in a third as Wolves' defending unravelled.

Mohamed Salah and Son Heung-min shared the Golden Boot last season, as the Liverpool and Tottenham forwards each managed 23 goals.

Yet Haaland has taken the art of goalscoring to a new level this season, emerging as the league's premier predator.

The Norwegian has scored 18 in 11 league games at City's Etihad Stadium, already a club record for home Premier League goals in a single season.

He went past Sergio Aguero's best home season haul of 16 on Sunday, with Haaland showing no signs of slowing down for Pep Guardiola's side.

This was also Haaland's fourth Premier League hat-trick, making him by far the quickest player to hit so many trebles.

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was previously the fastest to bring up four hat-tricks, doing so in 65 games.

Half a season is a long time in football.

At the end of the 2021-22 campaign, Liverpool had come within a whisker of becoming the first English team in history to win the EFL Cup, FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League in a single campaign.

Chelsea had reached two domestic finals, losing on penalties to Liverpool on both occasions, and finished third in the Premier League after initially threatening a title charge with their early season form.

As the two prepare to meet at Anfield on Saturday, they do so in very different places from then, sitting ninth and 10th in the league table respectively.

They both managed to win their last games 1-0, but there is a long way to go if they are to get back to where they expect to be, and Stats Perform has taken a look at where it may have gone wrong for the two stumbling giants.

Reds struggling to step up to the challenge

It has been a particularly harsh slide for Liverpool, who for the second time in recent seasons were denied the league title by Manchester City in May despite earning over 90 points, while an inspired performance from Thibaut Courtois stopped them in the Champions League final against Real Madrid.

The inevitable disappointment from those two blows has been suggested as one of the reasons why they have accumulated just 28 points from 18 Premier League games, having already lost three times as many as they did in their entire league campaign last season (6-2), and conceding just one fewer goal in less than half the games (25-26).

A lack of turnover in his previously trusted players has been another factor blamed for what has been a tired looking season from the Reds, and tired performances are understandably a significant problem for a team that thrived by overwhelming the opposition with their energy and high pressing.

Liverpool simply aren't executing as many high turnovers, averaging 9.4 per 90 this season, the fourth-most in the league, down from 11.7 last season when they produced comfortably the most (Man City second with 9.9 per 90).

One of the criticisms Klopp has been willing to make publicly of his team in recent games has been their struggle to win challenges, and he wasn't wrong as Liverpool have the worst record in the Premier League for duel success this season (47.4 per cent).

This could go some way to explaining why the number of big chances against them – defined by Opta as a situation from which a player should reasonably be expected to score – has exploded, having already allowed 54 in just 18 games, one more than the whole of last season, and 13 more than their total from the 2018-19 campaign when the team was entering its peak.

Compounding the problem, their ability to put away their own big chances has also fallen off a cliff, having led the league with a 55.3 per cent conversion rate last season.

Despite only Man City (67) creating more big chances than Liverpool's 60 this season, only Leicester City (25.8 per cent) have a worse conversion rate than their 26.7 per cent, less than half what it was last season.

The sale of Sadio Mane could be a factor given the Senegalese forward scored 14 of his 27 big chances in the league last season (51.8 per cent), while his primary replacement Darwin Nunez has only taken four of his 19 so far (21.1).

Things should settle if Nunez and new arrival Cody Gakpo can get close to their previous numbers. The Uruguayan put away 21 of his 35 in the Primeira Liga for Benfica last season, with his 60 per cent success rate the fourth-highest of players in Europe's top 10 leagues (min. 20 big chances), while Gakpo scored five of his 10 big chances for PSV in the Eredivisie before his move this season.

Blues in limbo after period of change

If the lack of squad replenishment is one of the main issues at Liverpool, it could be argued quite the opposite is true of Chelsea since their ownership change last May.

The £88.5million purchase of Mykhaylo Mudryk took the club's overall spending to £372.7m since then (according to Transfermarkt), with 13 new players coming in.

All that on top of swapping the head coach in September, with Thomas Tuchel replaced by the much-heralded Graham Potter, who had never coached a club of Chelsea's standing before.

While many put this down to same old Chelsea, changing their man in the dugout at the first sign of any trouble, it felt more like a statement of intent from Todd Boehly and co, wanting to put in place a long-term strategy with a progressive coach like Potter at the helm.

Despite a solid enough start, going unbeaten in his first nine games (W6, D3), a 4-1 humbling at former club Brighton and Hove Albion signalled the start of a prolonged wobble that has seen them lose another seven of their 11 games since. 

Potter managed to turn the Seagulls into one of the most attractive and fluent teams in the league, with one particular stand-out metric being their high turnovers.

Between the start of the 2021-22 season and leaving for Chelsea last September, only Liverpool (11.4) and Man City (9.9) averaged more high turnovers per game than Brighton (9.8) in the Premier League.

During the same period, Chelsea averaged 8.2 per game, which has gone up to 8.9 under Potter, showing there is still a way to go before his new team will be fully able to implement his style of football.

There has also been a significant struggle to score goals, having only managed 22 at the halfway point of the league campaign – four fewer than Leeds United and Leicester City – after scoring 76 last season.

It is an interesting situation considering Brighton managed just 42 goals last season, with only Wolves and the three relegated teams scoring fewer, and many pointed to the fact Potter never really had an orthodox and accomplished striker to call on.

However, at Chelsea he has had Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who may not be what he once was but still scored 13 goals in 23 games for Barcelona last season. The Gabon international has found the net just three times in 16 outings for the Blues, and once in 10 games in the Premier League.

There is also the revolving door of players in and out of the side due primarily to injuries and Potter trying to ascertain his best team, making 60 changes to his starting XI already since his arrival, 21 more than any other manager in the league in that time.

With the talent and resources available to both Klopp and Potter, it would be safe to assume that this is probably just a bad patch for them and before long, the familiar figures of the Reds and the Blues will be back challenging the top four.

There are certainly issues to iron out for both though, and what better way to start than by adding further misery to the other at Anfield on Saturday?

The Premier League is back, and in many ways, it felt like it never left.

A number of teams picked up where they left off for the World Cup in Monday's action, with leaders Arsenal securing a win against West Ham, though having to come from behind to do so.

Tottenham repeated their party trick of recovering from losing positions, though had to settle for a point at Brentford as Harry Kane kept up his superb Boxing Day record.

Liverpool came back with a hard-fought win at Aston Villa, with teenager Stefan Bajcetic scoring his first goal for the club, while Newcastle United blew away Leicester City in the first half at the King Power Stadium.

Stats Perform takes a closer look at some of the more interesting stats from the day.

Arsenal 3-1 West Ham: Gunners keep up record to fighting back against Hammers

Arsenal went in 1-0 down at Emirates Stadium at half-time after Said Benrahma's penalty, but came from behind thanks to goals from Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah. It made it the eighth time they have come from behind to beat West Ham in the Premier League, more than they have against any other opponent.

Hammers boss David Moyes has now lost 15 Premier League away games against Arsenal, equalling Harry Redknapp for the most away defeats against a specific opponent in the competition (15 vs Manchester United).

In the presence of Arsene Wenger for the first time since he left the club, the Gunners won their 10th consecutive Premier League home game, the first time they have managed that since April 2019, while this is the first time they have done so while scoring two or more goals each time since November 2017.

Saka seems to enjoy his Christmas, as he has scored in three consecutive Boxing Day games (also 2020 vs Chelsea and 2021 vs Norwich City), the first Arsenal player to do so since Thierry Henry between 2002 and 2004.

Today was the second time Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard has provided two assists in a single Premier League game, with the other coming on Boxing Day last season against Norwich.

Brentford 2-2 Tottenham: Kane puts penalty woe bee-hind him

Following on from his agonising penalty miss in England's World Cup quarter-final loss to France, Kane kept his composure to plant a header past David Raya as Spurs came from 2-0 down to earn a point on Monday.

Kane has now scored more Premier League goals on Boxing Day than any other player in the competition's history (10), finding the net in all seven of his appearances on December 26, while he has also scored against all 32 teams that he has faced in the Premier League – the best such 100 per cent record of any player.

One thing that will concern boss Antonio Conte is that Spurs have conceded the opening goal in each of their last six Premier League matches; their longest run of conceding first in the competition since April 2014 under Tim Sherwood (also six). They have also conceded two or more goals in six consecutive league games for the first time since May 2003.

Brentford are now winless in their last 14 meetings with Spurs in all competitions (D5 L9), since a 2-0 home win in the second tier in March 1948.

Ivan Toney scored the second for the Bees, making him the first English player to register 30 goal involvements (23 goals, 7 assists) in his first 50 Premier League appearances since Jamie Vardy in 2015 (also 30).

Leicester City 0-3 Newcastle United: Almiron continues to fly

It was a fast start by Eddie Howe's men, going 2-0 up against Leicester inside seven minutes – the earliest they had been 2-0 up in a Premier League game since January 2007 (seventh minute v Aston Villa). In fact, it was the earliest a Premier League team had been 2-0 up on Boxing Day since 2010 (Manchester City v Newcastle, after five mins).

Leicester conceded three goals in the first half of a home league game for the first time since September 2003 against Manchester United.

Miguel Almiron picked up where he left off with a superb strike, and has now scored nine goals in 16 games in the Premier League this season, as many as he had scored in his previous four campaigns in the competition combined (nine in 110 appearances).

Newcastle have won six in a row in the Premier League for the first time since 2012 under Alan Pardew. In fact, the Magpies have won 21 Premier League matches in 2022, their most in a single year since 1995, when they won 23.

Howe is only the third English manager to win more than 20 Premier League matches in a single year (21 in 2022 so far), after Kevin Keegan (24 in 1994 and 23 in 1995 with Newcastle) and Roy Evans (22 in 1996 with Liverpool).

Aston Villa 1-3 Liverpool: Robertson provides historic assist

It has not been the best campaign so far for Liverpool, but despite a World Cup being sandwiched in between, this made it three consecutive Premier League wins for the first time since winning their final three games of last season.

Mohamed Salah both scored and assisted in the win, taking his totals to 125 goals and 50 assists for the club in the Premier League. The Egyptian is only the second player with 50+ goals and 50+ assists for the club in the competition, along with Steven Gerrard (120 goals, 92 assists).

Andrew Robertson provided the ball for Salah's fifth-minute opener, his 54th Premier League assist, making him the all-time leading assister among defenders in Premier League history, one more than Leighton Baines (53), while 10 of his assists have come for Salah, with only Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane providing more for him (12 times each).

Bajcetic came off the bench to seal the win, scoring his first Premier League goal for Liverpool aged 18 years and 65 days, making him their third-youngest Premier League scorer, behind only Michael Owen (17y 143d) and Raheem Sterling (17y 317d). Bajcetic is also the second-youngest Spaniard to score in the competition, behind only Cesc Fabregas in 2004 (17y 113d).

Another youth prospect, Ben Doak, came off the bench for Liverpool to make his Premier League debut aged 17 years and 45 days, becoming the youngest ever Scottish player in the competition's history, overtaking Nigel Quashie in 1995 for Queens Park Rangers (17 years, 163 days).

Liverpool made a winning return to Premier League action as Mohamed Salah starred and Stefan Bajcetic scored his first senior goal in an entertaining 3-1 Boxing Day win at Aston Villa.

Salah handed Liverpool a strong start when he converted Andrew Robertson's delivery from close range – making the left-back the defender with the most Premier League assists in history.

The Egypt star then teed up Virgil van Dijk to steer home a deflected second, though Liverpool came under pressure after Ollie Watkins halved the arrears with just over half an hour remaining.

However, Jurgen Klopp's side made the points safe late on as substitute Bajcetic rounded Robin Olsen to score his first Premier League goal, moving Liverpool within five points of the top four.

Liverpool needed just five minutes to take the lead, with Salah on hand to tap home Robertson's cross after the left-back latched onto a sublime outside-of-the-foot pass from Trent Alexander Arnold.

A lively first half saw both goalkeepers forced into action, though Watkins should have done better when heading at Alisson before Robin Olsen was tested by Darwin Nunez's volley.

After a series of narrow escapes, Villa failed to prevent Liverpool from striking again 37 minutes in, as Van Dijk's left-footed volley struck Ezri Konsa before finding the bottom-right corner.

The offside flag denied Watkins a goal soon after the restart, but there was to be no reprieve for Liverpool when he nodded Douglas Luiz's cross home after 59 minutes.

Liverpool then went close to a third through Nunez, but 18-year-old Bajcetic stepped off the bench to calm any nerves, latching onto a loose ball to round Olsen and lash a left-footed finish home.

What does it mean? Liverpool back in the groove

Liverpool entered the World Cup break seven points adrift of a top-four place after an inconsistent spell, leading Klopp to acknowledge his side will be playing catch-up from here on in.

However, the Reds have now won three consecutive Premier League games for the first time this season, and with over half the campaign remaining, they remain a strong contender to reach the table's upper echelons. 

Salah hits the ground running

Egypt's failure to qualify for the World Cup ensured Salah enjoyed a seven-week break ahead of Liverpool's return to action in the EFL Cup last week, and the winger looked every bit refreshed as he netted his 55th away Premier League goal for the club – a joint-high tally alongside Michael Owen.

Salah's assist then made him just the second Reds player to reach a half century for both goals and assists in the Premier League (125 goals and 50 assists), alongside Steven Gerrard (120 goals, 92 assists).

Van Dijk exploits Villa frailties

Though Villa looked menacing on the break throughout, they struggled to cope with Liverpool's attacking threat – including from set pieces.

Van Dijk lost marker Emiliano Buendia with ease to double Liverpool's lead. Since the start of the 2018-19 season, the Dutchman's tally of 15 Premier League goals is more than any other defender.

What's next?

Liverpool host Leicester City in their final Premier League game of the year on Friday, while Villa's 2022 is over – they are next in action at Tottenham on New Year's Day.

Erling Haaland scored his 24th goal of the season and Kevin De Bruyne delivered a masterclass as Manchester City beat holders Liverpool 3-2 to reach the EFL Cup quarter-finals.

The two heavyweights served up a thriller at the Etihad Stadium in their first game after the World Cup break, and it was the Premier League champions who deservedly came out on top.

Haaland opened the scoring, only for Fabio Carvalho to equalise in the first half of a pulsating tie on Thursday.

Riyad Mahrez restored City's lead right at the start of the season half, but Mohamed Salah soon levelled with his 15th goal of the campaign.

The outstanding De Bruyne then provided a second assist of the game for Nathan Ake, and Jurgen Klopp's men were unable to respond for a third time, suffering a first defeat to City in six matches.

Liverpool had been unable to cope with City's early intensity, and Haaland netted the opener 10 minutes in, getting in front of Joe Gomez to volley De Bruyne's pinpoint cross into the bottom-left corner.

The Reds were level from out of the blue 10 minutes later, Carvalho calmly stroking into the far corner after James Milner picked him out in the penalty area.

Caoimhin Kelleher denied Ilkay Gundogan and Ake after they were brilliantly set up by De Bruyne, before Darwin Nunez twice drilled wide.

Mahrez caught Liverpool out with a great touch from Rodri's pass before firing home just over a minute into the second half, yet City's lead only lasted 79 seconds as Nunez showed great pace to get away down the left and unselfishly laid an equaliser on a plate for Salah.

Liverpool were punished for another defensive lapse just before the hour-mark, though, switching off from a short corner and allowing De Bruyne to whip in an exquisite delivery for Ake to nod in.

Nunez spurned another great chance when he shot wide of the far post after bursting clear, with City this time holding on to advance.

Dejan Lovren believes Croatia showed the world – including former team-mate Mohamed Salah – they were not "lucky" at Russia 2018 by returning to the World Cup quarter-finals on Monday.

Croatia reached the final of the previous tournament, losing 4-2 to France, although they had to go through penalty shoot-outs against Denmark and Russia, then extra time against England.

Lovren and his team-mates advanced to the last eight at Qatar 2022 by defeating Japan, again relying on spot-kicks as Dominik Livakovic made three saves in a 3-1 shoot-out success.

Despite the nature of the victory, the centre-back felt his side had proven a point.

"How? Why? Maybe it is written in the stars that Croatia need to go like this," Lovren said. "We need to suffer. Without suffering, there is no reward.

"We showed to the world we are in the best eight of the world, that 2018 didn't happen just luckily.

"Especially my friend Salah said to me, 'penalties, penalties'. I said, 'okay, let me show you'. It's great that we showed to the world that we are really strong."

Lovren's hopes of advancing though another shoot-out were boosted by Sunday's training session, which had seen a similarly inspired Livakovic display.

"In the training session, we practised the penalties and he saved almost all penalties," Lovren added.

"We said to ourselves, 'wow, we are really bad at shooting'. I said to him, 'just be that'. He showed that today.

"Penalties are a lottery, but to be honest I was a little bit more calm today, because yesterday he really showed his quality in the training when he saved almost all penalties. Fantastic."

Livakovic was not Croatia's only hero, with Ivan Perisic earlier equalising with his record 10th major tournament goal, surpassing the great Davor Suker (nine).

"We had this extra experience from 2018, mixed with a younger generation," Lovren said.

"I'm really proud of my team. We kept calm even when we were 1-0 down. It was a really important goal from Perisic."

Croatia would play the winner of the match between Brazil and South Korea, in which the Selecao were racing into a big first-half lead as Perisic added: "It doesn't matter who, we have to be prepared to play our game. If we fight like today, everything is possible."

Mohamed Salah is rightly jealous of former Liverpool team-mate Dejan Lovren appearing at the World Cup, according to the Croatia defender.

Lovren is set to feature in the finals for Croatia and the centre-back knows he cannot come up against ex-Reds colleague Salah, who failed to qualify with Egypt.

A missed penalty from Salah in a shoot-out against Senegal in March proved costly as the Pharaohs missed out on a place in Qatar.

Asked on Sunday whether Salah would be jealous of him making it to the tournament, Lovren said: "One hundred percent! I would be jealous too.

"He said he would support me but, to be honest, I'm sad he didn't qualify. He was very close. He said he would come... with the Croatian flag!"

Croatia start their campaign against Morocco on Wednesday.

Salah helped Egypt beat Morocco during the Africa Cup of Nations in January, scoring in a 2-1 quarter-final victory, and he might have been able to give some useful pointers for Lovren.

"Did he give me a tip for Morocco? I didn't ask him, maybe it's too late now," Lovren said.

Lovren helped Croatia finish as runners-up at the 2018 World Cup, playing in the final against France, and he is adamant going one better is not out of the question this time.

In fact, Lovren is taking inspiration from how Liverpool rebounded from losing the 2018 Champions League final to Real Madrid, returning to the showpiece match a year later and beating Tottenham to take the trophy.

"We have everything we need, we just need to show it on the field," Lovren said. "I like this combination of seasoned veterans and young lions. A lot of things need to come together, everyone needs to be in their best shape.

"My personal thought, when I came to Qatar, was that I wanted to win the cup. When you have faith in yourself and in the team, anything is possible."

Lovren, now 33, plays for Russian club Zenit.

He is in the twilight of his international career and added: "If we were so close four years ago, why can't we do it again?

"That's what I said after the Champions League final when we lost to Real in 2018, so we became European champions a year later. Everything is possible in football, you just have to believe."

Mohamed Salah will go down as "one of the best strikers ever", according to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Salah scored twice at Tottenham to give Liverpool a 2-1 win in north London on Sunday, making it nine goals in his last eight appearances in all competitions.

The 30-year-old had a slow start to the campaign, with suggestions he was playing too wide, though he led the Premier League in chances created in the early weeks.

Speaking at a press conference after Liverpool's win, Klopp was effusive in his praise of his player, who seems to have rediscovered his scoring touch.

"Even with a 'slow start', he was involved in most chances in Europe, in football, but we didn’t take them or he didn't take them," he said. "That can happen for a striker, it's a completely normal phase.

"Everybody knows, when you look back on his career in four, five or six years, everybody will remember one of the best strikers you ever saw because the numbers will be absolutely insane.

"Tonight, what pleased me the most, he scored the two goals and then he played like a real, real team player. I am not surprised by it, but it is just important because he gets confronted with these questions as well... [I am] really pleased for him, top performance and showed an outstanding attitude tonight."

It was Liverpool's first away win in the Premier League this season at the sixth attempt (D2 L3), which led to Klopp letting off his signature fist-pumps to the away fans after the final whistle.

"Yeah. It was not my plan actually, I didn't want to do it but I got carried away and I thought the people deserved a little bit [after] tough times," he said. "[The fans] had now to travel a lot in the Premier League until they saw the first three points. So yeah, I got a bit carried away, but it was big, absolutely big.

"Before the final whistle I would not have been able to do that because I was really knackered, it was tough, a really tough game for everybody. Brilliant first half, a really, really good first half. Good football, controlled, top goals, world-class goals, and then we all know, Tottenham is coming back."

Harry Kane scored with 20 minutes remaining to make it a nervy finish for the Reds, but they were able to close it out and seal a much-needed three points.

Liverpool sit eighth in the Premier League after a stuttering start, but Klopp thinks his team can take a lot of positives from the nature of their win in the capital.

"Last year we nearly won all four competitions, but drew twice against Tottenham, so winning here is incredibly difficult," he added. "It is not about now that we have to play all the time like this or whatever. What we have to show is the attitude, the commitment to defending. That's what we have to show all of the time, definitely, 100 per cent.

"What we have to show is that we are not punched too hard when you concede a goal. I liked that tonight; I didn't want to concede a goal, but I thought the reaction afterwards was good... everybody was 100 per cent in and threw everything in and that's what I liked the most.

"You cannot be consistent by just playing all the time outstandingly well, it's all about showing the resilience we showed tonight. This is not the start or whatever, we are in a phase, we realised already and spoke about it, but for tonight we couldn't reach more than three points. We got them and that's massive."

The latest Liverpool revival starts here. Those mighty Reds have pulled level on points with Fulham.

Still, you have to start somewhere, and Tottenham are usually ripe for the picking when Liverpool are in town, with Eric Dier this time taking it upon himself to roll out the red carpet and wave Mohamed Salah into the spotlight.

It's nine goals in eight games now for Salah, none of them penalties, and if Liverpool collectively are still far short of where Jurgen Klopp would want them, then at least the manager need not worry about his star forward.

A 2-1 win at Tottenham came as little surprise in many regards, since it means the north London side remain winless in their last 10 Premier League games against Liverpool, drawing three of those and losing seven.

Salah was on the scoresheet the last time Liverpool lost to Tottenham in the league, getting the consolation in a 4-1 humbling at Wembley – Spurs' then temporary home – in October 2017.

That was in the early stages of his first season with Liverpool, and Salah has barely stopped scoring since, though a shaky run of games early this season raised red flags about his form.

Fresh from signing a long-term deal in the close season, and recently turning 30, Liverpool are counting on Salah to remain lethal in front of goal.

Their success under Klopp, that Tottenham can only envy, has come thanks to a host of factors, but Salah's goals have been front and centre.

He was not sure in midweek that he had been awarded Liverpool's opening goal against Napoli, with Darwin Nunez's header having been close to crossing the line before it was nudged out to Salah.

But Salah was in the right place and was given that one, and there was no doubting his claims to Liverpool's two goals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, where the visitors finally picked up a first away league win of the season.

The first was another from the Nunez-Salah collection, their partnership blossoming now, with the Uruguayan finding the Egyptian with a short, smart pass in the penalty area and the finish to the bottom-right corner was exemplary.

Desperate defending from Dier presented Salah with the chance to double Liverpool's lead, with the England international looking to nod Alisson's long kick back to Hugo Lloris but getting it all wrong.

Salah's footwork, running at pace onto the loose ball, was magnificent, and the chipped finish over the France goalkeeper was immaculate.

But what of Dier? Can he be trusted to avoid such blunders by Gareth Southgate at the World Cup? That is a third error leading to a shot committed by Dier in all competitions this season. Only one player from Europe's top leagues has had more: Liverpool's Joe Gomez (4).

Two of those mistakes from Dier have led to goals, and only one Premier League player has made as many errors already in 2022-23 that have proved quite so costly. The trouble for Spurs is that player is Lloris, also with two goal-costing errors.

This was the first time Tottenham had hosted Liverpool while above them in the table since that October 2017 win, and you have to wonder how long Spurs will stay ahead of Sunday's visitors.

They remain fourth for now, seven points adrift of a Liverpool side who have a game in hand on them, and they got what proved to be a classy consolation when Harry Kane rifled home a smart finish from substitute Dejan Kulusevski's pass in the 70th minute.

Kane spoke after the game of there being "tension" in the stands, and admitted Tottenham had been "punished" by Liverpool before building any momentum. The hosts hit the goal frame twice through Ivan Perisic, but Salah also had a glorious second-half chance, squandering the opportunity to seal a hat-trick when he fired straight at Lloris from a handy central position.

He has seven goals in 12 Premier League appearances against Spurs now, but it probably should have been eight.

Antonio Conte's Tottenham team selection had looked conservative, with injuries biting but attacking ambition seemingly in short supply. Kulusevski proved a threat on his return from injury, ripe to be used regularly in the coming weeks if there was not the inconvenience of a World Cup on the near horizon.

Kane's fine goal would have cheered Southgate, while Dier's clumsy error does him no favours ahead of the Qatar 2022 squad selection.

Kane became the first player to score in six consecutive home games for Spurs in the Premier League, but he was fighting a lone battle at times. Like Salah, Kane's class remains unquestionable.

Yet a Tottenham side who have lost three of their last four in the league are in need of a revival. Liverpool's wins over Napoli and now Spurs suggest Klopp's team might be in the early throes of one, but then you remember they lost to Leeds United at Anfield barely a week ago.

After the World Cup, these two sides must resolve their personality crises. More fits, starts and false dawns will mean the mid-table likes of Fulham might not be so easily shaken off.

The World Cup break may be just around the corner, but there remains plenty of life in the Premier League campaign, as another action-packed Sunday showed.

The day was book-ended by two heavyweight clashes, with Mikel Arteta's Arsenal moving back to the top of the table by beating Chelsea in a tense London derby in the early kick-off.

Later on, Liverpool finally clinched their first away win of the Premier League campaign as Mohamed Salah tormented Tottenham.

Elsewhere, Unai Emery made a memorable start to his Aston Villa reign and Newcastle United went third by tearing Southampton apart on the south coast.

Here, Stats Perform looks through the best facts of the day.

Tottenham 1-2 Liverpool: Salah ends Red's dismal away run

Liverpool had failed to win an away Premier League game this season (D2 L3), and needed a result as the prospect of slipping 13 points behind Spurs loomed.

Jurgen Klopp's side may have struggled, but Salah's recent form has been imperious, and he handed the visitors a strong start by drilling home an 11th-minute opener.

Salah then capitalised on Eric Dier's error to double Liverpool's lead, and he has now contributed to 19 goals in 20 games for Liverpool this season (14 goals, five assists). Only last season (28) has the Egyptian recorded more goal involvements in his first 20 appearances of a campaign for the Reds.

Meanwhile, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the 24th different away venue Salah has scored at for Liverpool in the Premier League – only Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen (both 25) have bettered that tally for the Reds.

Harry Kane ensured a nervy finish when he became the first Spurs player to score in six consecutive home Premier League appearances after the break, but Liverpool held firm to claim a huge win. 

Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal: Gabriel earns Gunners another statement win

Sunday's first game saw Arsenal return to the summit with a 1-0 victory against Chelsea, becoming the first team to win 10 away games against the Blues in the competition, and just the second to win on three successive trips to Stamford Bridge (after Blackburn Rovers from 1993-94 to 1995-96).

Gabriel Magalhaes got a touch on Bukayo Saka's corner to decide a hard-fought game – all nine of his league goals for Arsenal have come from corners, and no Premier League player has scored more goals from such situations since he arrived in the division in 2020.

Chelsea looked disjointed throughout, managing just five shots as they slipped to back-to-back Premier League defeats for the first time since December 2020 (under Frank Lampard).

Arsenal, however, look like the real deal. Having beaten Tottenham and Liverpool last month, the Gunners have won three consecutive league games against 'big six' opponents for the first time since April 2012. 

It was a miserable reunion with his former side for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who had just eight touches before being taken off by Graham Potter just after the hour.

Aston Villa 3-1 Manchester United: Emery makes flying start

At Villa Park, all eyes were on Emery as the Spaniard made his Premier League return just under three years after being sacked by Arsenal, and he could hardly have wished for a better start.

Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne put Villa 2-0 up within 11 minutes – the earliest point at which United have trailed by two goals in a Premier League game since October 2018 against Newcastle (10th minute).

Jacob Ramsey's own goal dragged United back into contention before he atoned by making the points safe for Villa, ensuring Emery became just the fourth coach to win his first Premier League game in charge of a team when facing the Red Devils.

On an eventful day for Ramsey, he became the fourth player in Premier League history to record a goal, an assist and an own goal in the same game, after Kevin Davies, Wayne Rooney and Gareth Bale.

United have now lost nine away league games in 2022 – their most in a calendar year since 1989 (12).

Southampton 1-4 Newcastle United: Miggy on the mark again as Magpies cruise

Eddie Howe's Newcastle have arguably been the story of the Premier League season to date, and they continued their stunning form by thrashing Southampton 4-1 at St Mary's.

Newcastle have now scored four or more goals four times in their last seven Premier League games, as often as they did in their previous 226 outings in the competition.

Miguel Almiron opened the scoring, becoming the eighth different player to net in four consecutive Premier League matches for Newcastle, and only the second non-Englishman to do so after Papiss Cisse.

Chris Wood and Joe Willock also got on the scoresheet before Bruno Guimaraes bent a 25-yard effort into the bottom-right corner, scoring his eighth goal in 28 league games for the Magpies, having netted just three times in 56 Ligue 1 outings for former club Lyon.

The result piled more pressure on Ralph Hasenhuttl, with Southampton now winless in their last 14 Premier League games against teams starting the day inside the top four (D5 L9).

Mohamed Salah hopes a great week for Liverpool can kick-start their Premier League season after he scored both goals in a 2-1 win at Tottenham.

The Reds finally claimed a first top-flight away win of the campaign at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday, moving into eighth place.

Salah continued his magnificent goalscoring run with a first-half double, making it nine goals in eight matches for the Egypt forward.

He rounded off a brilliant move to open the scoring after taking a pass from the lively Darwin Nunez and then capitalised on a mistake from Eric Dier to take his goal tally for the season to 14.

Spurs looked like a different side as they dominated the second half and Harry Kane pulled a goal back with a clinical finish, but Jurgen Klopp's men held on for three precious points.

Liverpool beat Napoli 2-0 in the Champions League in midweek following shock Premier League defeats to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.

Salah is optimistic they can kick on following a long-awaited Premier League victory on the road. 

He told Sky Sports: "I think we played quite good and managed to score two goals. In the second half, we could've scored but were unlucky.

"We did well to get the three points. It is always a tough opponent. I'm focused on making a difference and managed to do so today.

"We managed to strike back a few times in the season, have played some good games against City and against Napoli. Hopefully that can give us more confidence to win more games."

Spurs slipped down a place to fourth after Newcastle United moved above them with a 4-1 win at Southampton.

Mohamed Salah scored a first-half double as Liverpool ended their wait for a first Premier League away win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Tottenham.

Salah gave the Reds a deserved early lead and capitalised on a terrible mistake from Eric Dier to double their advantage, taking his goal tally for the season to 14 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

Spurs burst into life in the second half and Harry Kane's 13th goal of the campaign halved the deficit, but they are down a spot in fourth place after suffering back-to-back home defeats in the top flight.

This was a first Premier League win in three Premier League matches for Liverpool after being stunned by Nottingham and Forest and Leeds United, moving them into eighth spot.

The Reds started with vigour and Darwin Nunez forced an excellent save from Hugo Lloris before the lively Uruguay striker curled a shot wide of the far post.

Nunez showed great awareness for a brilliantly worked opening goal 11 minutes in, picking out Salah in the box and the prolific forward rounded off a slick move by taking a touch to control the ball before slotting into the bottom-left corner with his left foot.

Ivan Perisic nodded against the post when Alisson failed to deal with a whipped Harry Kane cross, but Liverpool were gifted a second goal by Dier five minutes before the break.

The defender tried to head a long ball back to Lloris but presented Salah with the opportunity to race clear and dink over the Spurs keeper with a clinical finish.

Spurs made a blistering start to the second half after they were booed off at the break and Perisic rattled the crossbar when Ryan Sessegnon pulled the ball back for the Croatia international.

Salah passed up a great opportunity to complete his hat-trick when he shot straight at Lloris and Kane got Spurs back in it with just over 20 minutes to go.

The fit-again Dejan Kulusevski played the England captain in with a clever pass and he fired into the far corner with his right foot from inside the box to give Spurs hope.

Tottenham continued to dominate but Liverpool held on for a long-awaited Premier League win on the road.

Mohamed Salah challenged Liverpool to carry their Champions League form into the Premier League and make the most of their remaining games before the World Cup.

The Egypt international poached the first goal in a 2-0 home win over Napoli on Tuesday as Liverpool ended their group-stage campaign in Europe on a high with a fifth successive victory in the competition.

The Anfield outcome was not enough for Liverpool to topple their Italian opponents from the top of Group A, but both march through to the last-16 stage with ambitions to go deep.

Yet Liverpool's domestic form has been poor this term, with just four wins in 12 Premier League games seeing them stuck in a mid-table rut, exemplified by recent losses to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United.

Jurgen Klopp's side have Tottenham away on Sunday, followed by Southampton at home the following Saturday, before a large number of their players head to Qatar 2022.

Salah will not be among them, after Egypt's penalty shoot-out defeat to Senegal in African qualifying back in March, with his ambitions for the season all centred around bringing trophy success to Liverpool.

He savoured the moment against Luciano Spalletti's Napoli, who are leading the Serie A title race, and told BT Sport: "To win against one of the best teams in the world, one of the best coaches in the world, it's always a good feeling, but we just need to carry on.

"It's a good result for us – hopefully it gives us more confidence, and we just need to focus now in the Premier League and carry on."

Salah did not realise he had been awarded the opening goal, after Darwin Nunez's powerful header almost crept over the line before the ball trickled back out. Salah tucked it in to make sure but said afterwards: "Is it mine? Honestly, I didn't know."

He now has seven in this season's Champions League, making him the competition's top goalscorer for now.

Nunez got Liverpool's second from inches out in the final moments, the second tap-in of the game, and Salah said: "As a striker, I like to score and Darwin also likes to score, so we're glad that we got both goals today.

"I think it's important, that win today. It gives us more confidence, especially because we played a good game, and we played with the ball and without the ball, we tried to recover the ball quickly. As you can see in the league we're not doing great, but hopefully we can give ourselves a push, and we just need to win more games in the league."

After playing with two forwards recently, Klopp reverted to his long-favoured 4-3-3 formation, and it paid off.

Salah said choosing Liverpool's shape was "not my job, it's the gaffer's job", but he firmly indicated his preference for the three-man attacking line, with his role on the right of the trio.

"Any position that makes me comfortable, I'm happy about it, but I've played in the position for five, six years and I have to say that yes, the position is the best for me, but I'm not the manager," Salah said.

"The manager decides the tactics, and as a player you have to follow the leader."

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