Roberto Firmino snatched a late win for Liverpool over title rivals Tottenham.

The Premier League champions broke the deadlock on 26 minutes when Mohamed Salah’s shot took a deflection off Eric Dier to loop past Hugo Lloris.

But Spurs struck back just seven minutes later as Son Heung-min fired a composed finish past Alisson Becker from the visitors’ counter-attack.

Little separated the sides until the 90th minute, when Firmino headed home Andy Robertson’s corner to ensure the Reds clinched maximum points.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Reds show true mark of champions

 

Jose Mourinho argues that the better team lost this top-of-the-table clash.

Liverpool will instead point to the fact that the true mark of Premier League champions set them apart from Tottenham at the end of a cagey encounter.

Mourinho did what he often does at Anfield in parking a double-decker bus in defence and hoping to punish his hosts through fast-paced counter attacks.

For the best part, he succeeded but Jurgen Klopp’s side are made of sterner stuff than the barriers that Spurs’ manager attempted to throw in their way.

Roberto Firmino’s 90th-minute header felt like a potential turning point in this title race with the Reds now sitting at the summit of the English top flight.

Therein lies the difference between contenders and pretenders; some teams have it and others lack it. Liverpool are again showing the mark of champions.

A fitting tribute to the ‘Boss’

 

News of Gerard Houllier’s untimely passing sent shockwaves through the footballing world on Monday and nowhere greater than at Anfield itself.

The Frenchman’s six years in charge revolutionised Liverpool for the 21st century and laid down the foundations for their current period of dominance.

Ahead of kick-off, some familiar banners from Houllier’s time in charge were dusted off and hung on the corner of The Kop and Sir Kenny Dalglish Stand.

His name reverberated around the famous old stadium during a minute’s applause held in his honour before a game which he would have relished.

Houllier’s Liverpool were often more pragmatic than aesthetically pleasing and the win against Spurs felt a fitting tribute to a man that many called ‘Boss’.

Tough call for Klopp to make

 

Another timely homage to Houllier came in the form of Liverpool’s midfield.

Curtis Jones continues to impress in the no.17 shirt also worn by two of the club’s finest homegrown graduates in Steve McManaman and Steve Gerrard.

Granted, comparisons with the pair are premature and he may never scale those same heights but Jones is a player who appears wise beyond his years.

For a second game running, the teenager was Liverpool’s stand-out performer and the statistics underline just how influential he now is.

He completed 94% of passes made, three shots at goal, four headers won, the same number of interceptions and took 129 touches in the entire game.

Thiago Alcantara tweeted that he would ‘soon’ be back in the fold with the knee injury which has sidelined him since October seemingly at an end.

With Jones in such imperious form, Klopp faces an unenviable decision on which of Liverpool’s midfielders will make way for the Spaniard’s return.

No subs is better than five

 

Klopp has pushed for the implementation of five substitutes per match but potentially undermined his case by refusing to utilise his current compliment.

By the 85th minute, Mourinho had introduced three Spurs players from the bench while the Liverpool manager had still yet to make his first change.

Moments before Firmino’s decisive header, Klopp readied Naby Keita for action but he was left loitering on the touchline right until the final whistle.

The German’s reticence to sent on reinforcements is likely to find little favour when the Premier League meets again to discuss the proposal later this week.

But this win shows staying the course is sometimes better than ringing the changes.