Liverpool edged out Tottenham in a breathless seven-goal thriller.

Curtis Jones continued his impressive run of form by opening the scoring inside three minutes, meeting Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ball to the far post.

The Reds soon doubled their advantage when Luis Diaz marked his first start since returning from injury with a tidy finish from Cody Gakpo’s cutback.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were soon in cruise control after they won a penalty on 15 minutes for a foul on Gakpo, allowing Salah to convert easily from the spot.

But the visitors struck back against the run of play as slack defending was duly punished by Harry Kane volleying home from Ivan Perisic’s delivery.

Spurs set up a nervy finale in the game’s closing stages as Son Heung-min further reduced the deficit by slotting the ball past Alisson on 77 minutes.

They appeared to have snatched a point in stoppage time as Richarlison sent a looping header over Brazil teammate Alisson to complete a likely comeback.

From the kick-off, however, Liverpool rallied to a smash-and-grab victory as substitute Diogo Jota pounced on a mistake and fired past Fraser Forster.

Here were the key talking points from Anfield:

Klopp mania sums up frantic finish

Never let it be said that Jurgen Klopp does not live in the moment.

The Liverpool manager has often thrived on the chaos generated by his side delivering a breathless smash-and-grab at crucial times throughout a season.

But the German’s latest act of mania after Diogo Jota’s crucial stoppage-time strike typified how crazy an afternoon this was at Anfield against Tottenham.

He celebrated that match-winning moment by inexplicably sprinting in the direction of John Brooks and quite literally getting in the fourth official’s face.

Bad enough that he received a yellow card for that act of insubordination, the 55-year-old also carried the physical scar of a pulled hamstring in the process.

Admittedly this was one of his tamer touchline antics; he was sent off against Manchester City earlier this season and fined for a pitch invasion in late 2018.

Still, that Klopp allowed himself to get caught up in the pandemonium which swirled around Anfield was a revealing insight into how crucial this finale was.

Scouse heartbeat shines again

Of all the intriguing subplots in this game, Luis Diaz scoring on his first start since October did not even register as the most noteworthy of them all.

Nor did Mohamed Salah eclipsing Robbie Fowler as Liverpool’s sixth-highest goal scorer of all-time by breaking a barren penalty run at the third attempt.

Instead, it was the homegrown pair Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones that combined superbly to put their lifelong club into a surprise early lead.

Barely two minutes had elapsed when the West Derby-born defender-turned-midfield dynamo floated a cross to the far post for his Toxteth counterpart.

Alexander-Arnold’s renaissa8nce in the engine room has dovetailed with a return to both prominence by Jones since he overcame a problematic injury.

The 22-year-old has arguably been the best player in an unsettled midfield, which has been eased by his fellow academy graduate’s positional shift.

Beyond combing combining for the opener, Jones and Alexander-Arnold became further outliers as the only players to relentlessly press throughout.

It is often said that local lads do not receive their proper dues in modern football but the fanfare for Liverpool’s homegrown duo is only getting louder.

Another defensive horror show

If the breathlessness of Jota’s late effort encapsulated all that remains right for Liverpool, their defensive failings typified what has been a strange season.

Tottenham had already fired ample warning shots before Harry Kane reduced their hosts’ three-goal deficit with a superb volleyed finish late in the first half.

They continued to turn the screw after the interval, too, with Son Heung-min and Sergio Romero taking it in turns to rattle the woodwork in succession.

Klopp’s backline parted like the Red Sea to allow Son to stroke home before Richarlison’s looping stoppage-time equaliser appaired to seal their fate.

Apportioning blame to individuals would be unfair given it was a catalogue of errors instead of, as just two examples, Virgil van Dijk or Andy Robertson.

Yet Liverpool’s defensive horror show against Spurs was simply more of the same in a campaign where Champions League qualification appears unlikely.