The Premier League is reaching its climax and issues are becoming clearer at both ends of the table.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the talking points ahead of the weekend’s games.

The return of ‘Big Sam’

Leeds go to Manchester City on Saturday for Sam Allardyce’s first game since leaving West Brom in 2021, following the sacking of Javi Gracia. The former Bolton and West Ham boss has been bullish about his ability, saying he is equal to any manager in the league. It will be a thankless task at the Etihad, though, with City having won 14 of their last 15 games – and drawing the other – in all competitions. Defeat might be expected but Allardyce knows how to squeeze the best out of sides and Leeds need their late gamble to work.

Revived Liverpool can cement fifth

Five straight wins and seven unbeaten in the Premier League have lifted Liverpool to fifth, and while the top four seems unlikely they are in pole position to finish best of the rest. The visit of Brentford represents another chance to cement their place ahead of the chasing pack of Brighton, Tottenham and Aston Villa. Jurgen Klopp’s side have rediscovered some swagger and a way to win – snatching a 4-3 injury-time victory over Spurs despite blowing a 3-0 lead – even if it is a little late.

Arsenal entering the endgame

The Gunners’ trip to Newcastle may finally see their title chance slip away. With City hosting Leeds on Saturday, they could find themselves four points behind the leaders by the time they kick off at St James’ Park. It has been a gallant attempt from Arsenal, one few would have foreseen at the start of the season, but they are teetering on the brink of seeing City take another title. The Magpies have won four of their last five games to cement their top-four place while Arsenal need to win in the north east to keep their hopes alive.

Forest’s big chance with Saints on the brink

At the bottom, Southampton looked doomed and Nottingham Forest cannot pass up the chance to boost their survival chances. As the Monday night game, the hosts will know how their relegation rivals did – with Leicester heading to Fulham, Leeds at Man City and Everton going to Brighton – and favourable fixtures elsewhere make a win at the City Ground imperative. Defeat would leave the Saints staring into the abyss and the Championship. If they lose, and one of Leicester and Leeds win, they will be nine points from safety with an inferior goal difference and three games left.

Can Chelsea get any worse?

Beleaguered Frank Lampard takes Chelsea to resurgent Bournemouth on Saturday having lost all of his six games in charge in all competitions. They have not won in the league for almost two months and have scored just twice since the former England man replaced Graham Potter in April until the end of the season. Chelsea have fast become a laughing stock, having spent almost £600m this season, and go to the Cherries with the hosts mid-table and virtually safe. It would not be a surprise to see Lampard’s record read 007 by 5pm on Saturday – hardly a licence to thrill.

Brentford head coach Thomas Frank has acknowledged managers like himself and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp must be aware of their touchline behaviour, but conceded sometimes emotions do get the better of them.

Klopp was charged with improper conduct by the Football Association on Tuesday over his post-match comments about Paul Tierney after he insisted the referee “had history” with the club, having raced down the touchline to celebrate wildly in front of fourth official John Brooks following Liverpool’s stoppage-time winner in the 4-3 victory over Tottenham.

The German has until Friday to respond and this weekend’s visit of Brentford may end up being his last on the touchline if the FA decides to ban the 55-year-old, with Klopp having already served a one-match suspension in November for confronting assistant referee Gary Beswick in their win over Manchester City.

Frank said: “I think we all as managers need to think about how we present ourselves on the touchline and of course we need to be aware of that.

“I try my best but I am not perfect. I have also done things that afterwards I am thinking I should have done a little better there.

“We’re only humans and there is a lot of emotion and pressure in those situations.

“This situation, I don’t know. I don’t know what exactly happened. I guess it is up to Jurgen to explain.

“I think in general Jurgen is coming across very well and then there are some times where we are very emotional and we maybe make a mistake.

“As I said, I try my best but sometimes the emotions and the pressure over time just gets you.”

Bees boss Frank was otherwise full of praise for his opposite number ahead of Saturday’s trip to Anfield, where the visitors will eye an unlikely first ever double over Liverpool.

Last season Brentford suffered a 3-0 loss on Merseyside and their manager reflected on the strangeness of football that Klopp’s side were so close to an unprecedented quadruple in the 2022-23 campaign while now they are set to miss out on the top-four.

“Sometimes I try to get my head around that Liverpool last year were so close to the perfect season,” Frank said.

“They played every possible game they could and just missed out by a point in the league. And they played a Champions League final they should have won, they were unlucky. Now this year they are, in their terminology, struggling a little bit and that is only losing (Sadio) Mane.

“Football is so strange.

“I think the job they have done there over the last four or five seasons should have brought even more titles for them. I think they have been quite unlucky.”

Brentford beat Liverpool at home in January with Yoane Wissa on target, and the forward agreed a new deal with the west London club on Thursday to keep him there until 2026.

Frank said: “He’s a very important player. It is a privilege to have a player that we know can always provide goals.

“I think that is a very important skillset to have in the squad and then it is up to me to find and put the best players on the pitch.

“He is very, very good to work with and fantastic for the group, so I’m very pleased we managed to extend his contract.”

Mohamed Salah may be the man for consistency but fellow forward Darwin Nunez is the player who injects the element of unpredictability which is part of the evolution of Liverpool’s forward line.

Salah became the first player to score in eight successive home matches for the club with his penalty enough to secure a 1-0 victory over Fulham, making it five wins in a row and 12 goals in his last 16 games.

He was starting alongside Nunez and Luis Diaz, which at the start of the season was the expected first-choice forward line until the latter sustained a serious knee injury which sidelined him for six months.

As a result, the Fulham game was only the fifth time they had all begun a game together, but it was Nunez’s return to the starting line-up for the first time in half-a-dozen games which produced the key moment in the first half.

Having lost control 30 yards from goal, he set about regaining possession and nicked it back off Issa Diop inside the penalty area only for the defender to bring him down.

Manager Jurgen Klopp felt the spell among the substitutes helped reignite the Uruguay international, who was played through the middle as opposed to his more regular position out on the left in his maiden season.

“Darwin was like a racehorse, really motivated, really on fire,” said Klopp, who was particularly pleased with how the 23-year-old adapted to the vital counter-pressing role through the middle which has been performed so well by fellow new signing Cody Gakpo recently.

“Absolutely. I think for us it’s super-important. You could see in the beginning, defending the centre against Fulham is really important because Palhinha is there and that is their connector.

“We were a bit too early out there from Darwin, we tried to fix that, but he was like a racehorse – go, go, go, go for everybody.

“We opened up and that’s where we struggle slightly. We could sort that and apart from that he played a really good game, he was always a proper option for us and we needed that.”

But with only a slender lead to protect it was goalkeeper Alisson Becker who, not for the first time in this up and down season for the team, came up with the key moments to keep his first clean sheet in six matches with a good save from Carlos Vinicius.

The Brazil international has now made 100 saves in the current campaign, the first time he has reached triple figures in a single season since joining Liverpool.

“He is is for sure the most consistent player we have this season,” added Klopp.

“That’s actually not bad news, it’s good news, because if we are not in a great shape and the level of the goalie drops as well then we would have been completely lost. So, that’s fine.”

Fulham manager Marco Silva claims the award of Liverpool’s match-winning penalty was embarrassing as his side slipped to an eighth defeat in 10 games.

Mohamed Salah scored from the spot for the second successive match to secure a 1-0 win after Issa Diop was adjudged to have brought down Darwin Nunez.

Silva was not convinced, however, saying: “The way they scored the goal, I have to say that is embarrassing.

“Today in football to give a penalty like that, after the VAR didn’t take that penalty (away) it is difficult to understand.

“I will not say nothing more because after it will be difficult for me and I don’t want to create more problems for me. It is difficult to understand that penalty,” Silva said.

“When Darwin touch the ball he start to dive himself but after he touched his left leg with Issa.

“They are going to say it is harsh but the referee gave and after the VAR cannot take (away). It is always the same conversation. I didn’t speak with the referee at the end or at half-time. I had some words with the fourth official.

“Issa told me that it is clear not penalty. The referee made a mistake and the VAR is there to take that decision and not allow the penalty to go on. That’s clear for me.”

The victory secured a fifth successive win for Liverpool for the first time since April 2022 and maintained the pressure on fourth-placed Manchester United, whom they trail by four points having played two matches more.

“Really pleased with big parts of the game: first half controlling, creating not finishing situations off,” said manager Jurgen Klopp.

“The penalty I like a lot because it a counter-pressing situation; Darwin is fully in the situation and gets a pen and Mo finishes it off.

“We then don’t close the game early and we have to fight to the end and we needed Ali (Alisson Becker) obviously, the save from (Carlos) Vinicius was sensational and he was happy about the clean sheet more than anyone.

“Five wins in a row is super-difficult. It felt it was ages ago we did it and the more I like it.”

Fulham manager Marco Silva claims the award of Liverpool’s match-winning penalty was embarrassing as his side slipped to an eighth defeat in 10 games.

Mohamed Salah scored from the spot for the second successive match to secure a 1-0 win after Issa Diop was adjudged to have brought down Darwin Nunez.

Silva was not convinced, however, saying: “The way they scored the goal, I have to say that is embarrassing.

“Today in football to give a penalty like that, after the VAR didn’t take that penalty (away) it is difficult to understand.

“I will not say nothing more because after it will be difficult for me and I don’t want to create more problems for me. It is difficult to understand that penalty,” Silva said.

“When Darwin touch the ball he start to dive himself but after he touched his left leg with Issa.

“They are going to say it is harsh but the referee gave and after the VAR cannot take (away). It is always the same conversation. I didn’t speak with the referee at the end or at half-time. I had some words with the fourth official.

“Issa told me that it is clear not penalty. The referee made a mistake and the VAR is there to take that decision and not allow the penalty to go on. That’s clear for me.”

The victory secured a fifth successive win for Liverpool for the first time since April 2022 and maintained the pressure on fourth-placed Manchester United, whom they trail by four points having played two matches more.

“Really pleased with big parts of the game: first half controlling, creating not finishing situations off,” said manager Jurgen Klopp.

“The penalty I like a lot because it a counter-pressing situation; Darwin is fully in the situation and gets a pen and Mo finishes it off.

“We then don’t close the game early and we have to fight to the end and we needed Ali (Alisson Becker) obviously, the save from (Carlos) Vinicius was sensational and he was happy about the clean sheet more than anyone.

“Five wins in a row is super-difficult. It felt it was ages ago we did it and the more I like it.”

Liverpool turned up the pressure on Manchester United with a 1-0 victory over Fulham moving them four points off fourth place as Mohamed Salah’s winner edged him even closer to a Steven Gerrard record.

There was none of the drama or histrionics of Sunday’s 4-3 win over Tottenham in bringing up a fifth successive Premier League victory for the first time since April last year.

Salah’s 39th-minute penalty, his second in successive games after back-to-back misses, took him to 185 goals for the club, one behind Gerrard, while also going fifth on the club’s list of all-time league scorers with 136.

Manager Jurgen Klopp’s behaviour in the technical area was the very model of exemplary following a Football Association misconduct charge for comments about Sunday’s referee Paul Tierney.

He was perhaps making the most of his time on the touchline as he has until Friday to respond to the charges and, having already served a one-match ban this season, the punishment could be much more severe.

Klopp had written in his programme notes that going 3-0 up inside the opening 15 minutes against Tottenham – a match they eventually went on to win with an added-time goal – had given them some problems.

And although they set off looking like they might replicate that with Trent Alexander-Arnold alone having three attempts on goal in the first 10 minutes, they lacked some of the sharpness they had shown at the weekend.

Also, Fulham were also more organised than their fellow Londoners and that kept opportunities down to half-chances at best.

Alexander-Arnold’s advanced position stepping into midfield allowed him to get closer to his opponents’ goal but, unusually for him, he was off target with two attempts with another hit tamely at goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Salah, whose cross just evaded Darwin Nunez eight yards out, weaved his way past a couple of defenders close to the byline but could not find the target from a narrow angle, while Luis Diaz also had a shot deflected wide.

Liverpool’s mastery of control in the opposition half was almost absolute, regularly winning back possession before Fulham had time to begin the semblance of an attack, but in their own final third it was much less so.

Virgil Van Dijk had to slide in to turn Harry Wilson’s cross behind after the former Liverpool winger had broken into the space behind Kostas Tsimikas, with Carlos Vinicius exploiting Ibrahima Konate’s hesitation to force a good save out of Alisson Becker.

When the breakthrough arrived it was no surprise it came from a counter-press after Nunez had initially lost possession 15 yards outside Fulham’s penalty area.

Tosin Adarabioyo squared a short pass to Issa Diop but the centre-half, back in the team due to Tim Ream’s season-ending injury, dawdled in making his clearance and Nunez was on him like a shot to nick the ball off his toes with the Frenchman’s swing at fresh air catching the forward’s back leg as he went past him.

Referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot and Salah scored an identical penalty to the one against Spurs, blasted straight down the middle.

The second half was much of the same, with Liverpool exerting most of the pressure without really pressing home their advantage.

That made their slender lead vulnerable and Alisson had to save well from Vinicius to prevent the equaliser with 13 minutes remaining to keep their slim Champions League qualification hopes alive.

They are, however, still relying on United to drop points as their arch-rivals have two matches in hand, starting at Brighton on Thursday.

Real Madrid are closing in on the signing of England and Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, according to reports.

The 19-year-old has been a target for a number of top European clubs but it appears Real are now winning the race to land the former Birmingham man.

Bellingham has scored 21 goals in 130 appearances for Dortmund and has been a major part of the team challenging for the Bundesliga title this season.

He has also been linked with Manchester City, while a potential move to Liverpool seemed to be curtailed by the finances involved in a deal for the highly-rated teenager.

“We don’t speak about players we sign or do not sign, so we don’t now speak about this kind of speculation. There is nothing to say about it,” Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said when asked about Bellingham last month.

“It is not about Jude Bellingham, my answer now, but I never understood why we talk about things we theoretically cannot have. We cannot have six players in a summer, everyone for £100million. Everyone would say that is clear.

“You have to realise what you can do and then work with it. That is your job. We are not children. When you ask a five-year-old what they want for Christmas and they tell you, I don’t know, a
Ferrari, you wouldn’t say that’s a good idea, you would say that is too expensive and anyway you cannot drive it.

“If this kid then was really unhappy because he didn’t get a Ferrari, it would be a really sad life.”

Bellingham joined Dortmund from Birmingham in 2020 and has established himself as a key player for England during his time in the Bundesliga.

Reports claim personal terms are all-but agreed between Bellingham and Real, with negotiations with Dortmund said to be progressing.

Liverpool can challenge for Premier League titles again but only if they back Jurgen Klopp in the transfer market, says former Reds defender Kolo Toure.

Since arriving at Anfield in 2015, Klopp's Liverpool have been hugely competitive both domestically and in Europe, winning the Premier League and Champions League while finishing runners-up in those competitions a combined four times.

But this season has been a far cry from those past successes, with Liverpool fighting to finish in the European places rather than competing for the Premier League title and crashing out of the Champions League at the round-of-16 stage.

The Reds splashed out over £100million on forwards Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo this season, but Toure believes Klopp must be provided with further spending power to freshen up the squad and get Liverpool back in silverware contention.

Speaking to Stats Perform, Toure said: "They have to look for somebody who has legs again and refresh the team, refresh the squad a little bit, bring in players who have the right mentality.

"They can go again because they have a top manager with them having Jurgen [Klopp], and [they have to] keep him there and make sure they sign the right players for him, then they will bounce again and go and fight for the Premier League, definitely."

Gakpo and Nunez have combined for just 15 Premier League goals this term as Liverpool have failed to keep up with title challengers Manchester City and Arsenal.

Toure feels the pair must do more to fit into Klopp's style of play, saying: "It's been a tough campaign for Liverpool, definitely, but every team goes in a cycle. When you sign players, sometimes they fit, sometimes they don't fit because of whatever reason, you don't know.

"He's signed a few players right now, [Cody] Gakpo and the other striker, [Darwin] Nunez and it's up to them to make sure they can fit in the team. Jurgen is such an incredible manager, he knows how he wants his team to play. But, when you sign players you expect them to fit in your team.

"At the moment, those players have to show that, they have to show more for the team. They haven't done that this season so well. Gakpo needed time to adapt, but he is looking to have the right chemistry in the team, and bringing in new players to refresh the team, to make sure the team can go again. This season will be a transition for them, but next season they're going to be better, definitely."

Liverpool's failure to live up to their past glories under Klopp has seen his job questioned by some, with the German himself saying last month his previous successes were the only reason he had not been sacked.

But Toure, who played under Klopp for one season at Anfield, says the former Borussia Dortmund coach still has more to extract from these players.

"In his time it feels like he has squeezed the team, it feels like he has taken everything out of the team, and it feels like he can't do any more – he would say that," Toure added.

"At the moment, he knows he can still up that team, and that's what he's tried to do. He can help them.

"I think Jurgen is such an intelligent manager and if he feels he has squeezed the team to the maximum, he will just feel it and say definitely. For me, I still feel like this Liverpool team don't need a lot to come back to the top of the league there with the other [teams]."

Tottenham’s habit of starting games slowly left Harry Kane exasperated after Sunday’s 4-3 defeat at Anfield.

Liverpool raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes before Spurs fought back to 3-3, only to concede a stoppage-time winner.

“Dreadful start in the first 20 minutes, not the first time it’s happened this season, so we need to start understanding moments better, start understanding big games better,” Kane said.

Here, the PA news agency picks out some key stats behind Tottenham’s slow starts.

Wait and see

Only a third of Tottenham’s 63 Premier League goals this season have been scored in the first half, the lowest share of any team in the top flight.

If games ended after 45 minutes, Spurs would be ninth in the league, with 10 wins out of 34 and a goal difference of -9 (21 goals scored compared with 30 conceded).

In contrast, their record in the second period – 17 victories and a goal difference of +15 (42 goals for, 27 against) – is bettered by only Manchester City and Arsenal.

Tottenham were even more conservative in cup competitions under previous manager Antonio Conte.

Apart from netting three times in the opening 36 minutes at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, Spurs failed to score before half-time in 11 of their 12 matches in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Mountain to climb

Tottenham have consistently fallen behind in games, conceding the first goal in 18 of their 34 Premier League fixtures.

They have shipped 20 goals in the first 25 minutes of matches – the most in the division – nine of which have come in the last three games against top-four rivals Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool.

Having conceded five in the opening 21 minutes at St James’ Park in the second-worst start to a match in Premier League history (behind Watford who shipped five in 18 minutes against Manchester City in 2019), Spurs have since allowed early goals by United’s Jadon Sancho and Liverpool’s Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.

Inviting pressure

Tottenham’s underlying numbers suggest that their cautious first-half approach could be a deliberate tactic.

In the Premier League, they have taken a total of 205 shots in the first period, while allowing 240 efforts on their own goal.

Aston Villa, Fulham and Brentford are the only other teams in the top half of the league to have been outshot before half-time.

Spurs look to turn the tables in the second 45 minutes, with 267 shots for compared with 235 against.

They are the only side in the league to have faced fewer shots in the second half – when teams are more likely to be chasing a goal – than the first.

Liverpool still hold out hope they can scrape into the top four but their late charge for Champions League football could be derailed if manager Jurgen Klopp’s comments about referee Paul Tierney come back to bite them.

Following the dramatic 4-3 victory over Tottenham, in which the Reds needed an added-time winner from Diogo Jota to extend a four-match winning run after squandering a 3-0 lead from the opening 15 minutes, Klopp said he did not know what the official “has against us”.

Klopp was booked for his over-zealous celebration in front of fourth official John Brooks but said of Tierney’s attitude: “What he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK.”

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited was quick to respond, saying in a statement: “PGMOL is aware of the comments made by Jurgen Klopp after his side’s fixture with Tottenham Hotspur.

“Match officials in the Premier League are recorded in all games via a communications system and having fully reviewed the audio of referee Paul Tierney from today’s fixture, we can confirm he acted in a professional manner throughout including when issuing the caution to the Liverpool manager so, therefore, we strongly refute any suggestion that Tierney’s actions were improper.”

But it is Klopp’s suggestion of bias which is likely to land him in trouble with the Football Association and could lead to him receiving a touchline ban for Liverpool’s remaining few matches.

He was previously warned about his conduct after being banned for one match and fined £30,000 after the FA successfully won an appeal against the leniency of his punishment for berating an assistant referee during October’s home win over Manchester City.

The absence of Klopp from the touchline for any or all of Liverpool’s eminently-winnable remaining matches against Fulham, Brentford, Leicester, Aston Villa and Southampton could kill their momentum and blow their outside chances of catching fourth-placed Manchester United, who are currently seven points ahead with a match in hand.

One mistake and the best Liverpool can hope for is Europa League football but they came close to throwing it away against Spurs having coasted into a three-goal lead through strikes from Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.

Harry Kane equalled Wayne Rooney’s Premier League tally of 208 goals just before half-time, leaving only Alan Shearer (260) ahead of him in the all-time list, and when Richarlison’s first league strike in added time followed Son Heung-min’s 77th-minute effort, Spurs looked like they had escaped with an unlikely draw.

However, just 99 seconds after equalising, Jota slotted in his fifth goal in four matches to spark wild – some would argue too wild in Klopp’s case – celebrations as Liverpool’s slim Champions League qualification hopes were kept alive.

“Sometimes we don’t half make it hard for ourselves,” said midfielder Harvey Elliott, back in the side after almost a month.

“We started the game unbelievably well, got three goals in quick succession, and personally I think we took our foot off the gas a little bit and allowed them to play a bit more football while not playing football ourselves.

“It’s a tough one to explain. It’s not a lack of concentration. Maybe because going 3-0 up early hardly ever happens so the way we deal with it is new to us.

“It’s always a hard situation because emotions are high, performing well and then we just decide to switch and didn’t do our game-plan.

“We decided to keep the ball and I felt it was just a bit slow in the way we moved it around and that caused ourselves problems. That’s something we need to snap out of.”

Ryan Mason, two matches into another spell as interim head coach following the sacking of Cristian Stellini after the 6-1 embarrassment at Newcastle, was less interested in Tottenham’s top-four chances now they had dropped to sixth than he was of repairing some of the recent damage.

“My priority is to get some togetherness, create some good feelings and energy around the place and bring our fans with us,” he said.

“The only way to do that is winning matches so it’s difficult to take. We’re just devastated in the way we lost the game.”

Jurgen Klopp slammed referee Paul Tierney after he made a series of contentious decisions in Liverpool's dramatic 4-3 win over Tottenham, saying: "I really don't know what this man has against us."

Having looked set for a routine win when they scored three times inside the first 15 minutes, Liverpool squandered their commanding lead before clinching a remarkable victory in stoppage time.

Diogo Jota latched onto Lucas Moura's mistake to fire home the winner, prompting an emotional Klopp to celebrate in front of the fourth official – an act that saw the Reds boss both injure his leg and receive a yellow card from Tierney. 

Klopp was angered by Tierney's decision to award a foul against Mohamed Salah in the build-up to Tottenham's equaliser, though his opposite number Ryan Mason felt Jota should earlier have been sent off for catching Oliver Skipp in the head with a high boot.

Recalling Tierney's failure to send off Tottenham talisman Harry Kane in a 2021 meeting between the sides, Klopp said the official has "history" with Liverpool.

"It was very emotional, of course, especially the situation before their third goal," Klopp told Sky Sports. "How they can give a foul on Salah up front? The linesman is directly there and keeps his flag down.

"We have our history with Tierney. I really don't know what this man has against us; he will always say there are no problems, but that cannot be true. I don't understand.

"How he looks at me, I don't understand it. I really have no problems with any people, and not with him either. He was the referee at Tottenham when Harry Kane didn't get the red card.

"In England, nobody has to clarify these situations, it's really tricky and difficult to understand. 

"My celebration towards the fourth official – I didn't say any bad words, but it was unnecessary. I got punished for that immediately, I pulled my hamstring or whatever, so fine, that's fair.

"But what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not okay."

Pushed on what Tierney allegedly told him, Klopp said: "It's not possible, I already said what I wanted to say."

When told of Mason's view on Jota's high challenge, Klopp said: "Ryan has to worry about other stuff. They're such a good football team, Tottenham, they have to play better football. 

"They can't just counter-attack. Diogo Jota has the foot high, but he's not going for the head.

"I heard Skipp could've had a red card. Did he speak about that as well? Wanting Diogo off the pitch... worry about other stuff."

The victory – Liverpool's fourth in as many Premier League games – lifts Klopp's men above Spurs into fifth, though they remain seven points adrift of Manchester United in fourth.

Asked if Liverpool could still make the top four, Klopp said: "Of course not. If United and Newcastle win all their games then how can we get there? 

"If they start losing them, we are close. Until then, we have to win football games to qualify for Europe at all."

Tottenham interim head coach Ryan Mason feels he deserves an explanation as to why Diogo Jota was still on the pitch to score an added-time winner for Liverpool after his head-high challenge on Oliver Skipp warranted only a yellow.

The Portugal international struck to secure a 4-3 victory just 99 seconds after Richarlison thought his first Premier League goal for the club had secured a late point having come back from 3-0 down.

However, Mason was incredulous that the substitute’s high boot, which cut Skipp’s head, did not warrant a red card.

“I would like an explanation and a reason why it wasn’t. I can understand referees on the pitch missing it,” he said.

“My feeling at the minute was an instant red card because when your foot is five-and-a-half foot off the ground and makes contact and there is a gash, it ticks all the boxes.

“We want the VAR to help the official on the pitch at that moment, but an experienced referee and VAR haven’t given it.

“A player that shouldn’t be on the pitch decided the game.

“I felt like we didn’t get that decision, it was a big decision, a crucial decision and one you can’t really miss.

“I find it hard and impossible to really understand why.”

Mason was doubly unhappy after seeing his side fight back from conceding goals to Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah (a penalty) inside the opening 15 minutes to draw level in the third minute of added time after Richarlison added to goals from Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

“We come here and create so many chances,” he said. “On another day we win it with ease.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was also unhappy with some of the officiating, so much so that he pulled a hamstring charging down the touchline to celebrate wildly in front of fourth official John Brooks.

Former referees chief Keith Hackett wrote on Twitter that Klopp’s behaviour was “unacceptable” and that “if we are to get improvement of the Technical area occupants then the law MUST be applied. Do not allow your authority to be eroded”.

Klopp’s issue was more with referee Paul Tierney, but his post-match comments about the official may get him into disciplinary trouble.

“We have our history with Tierney, I really don’t know what he has against us, he has said there is no problem but that cannot be true,” he told Sky Sports.

“How he looks at me, I don’t understand it. My celebration was unnecessary, which is fair but what he said to me when he gave me the yellow card is not OK.”

When asked what Tierney had said, Klopp added: “I will not say anything about it. The refs don’t say what is said so I don’t say what is said.”

However, he still went on to criticise Tierney and their history, referring to last season’s 2-2 draw in London.

Klopp said: “Paul Tierney didn’t give Harry Kane a red card but Robbo (Andy Robertson) got a red card. It was not the first time, there are so many things.”

On his celebration in front of the fourth official, Klopp added: “Of course, we are emotional in these moments. It’s difficult. It is not OK, we shouldn’t do that. Yes, we are role models but we are human beings first and foremost.

“I didn’t say a bad word to the fourth official – not at all – but I pulled my hamstring probably in that moment so, fair enough, I’m already punished.

“A fair punishment for behaving not the right away. I have pain for a few days, Mr Tierney not.”

Harry Kane delivered a scathing assessment of Tottenham after a last-gasp defeat to Liverpool as the striker conceded his side deserve to be in the position they are in.

Spurs found themselves three goals down in the first 15 minutes at Anfield as Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah netted for Jurgen Klopp's men on Sunday.

Just a week on from a 6-1 defeat at Newcastle United, in which they were 5-0 down after 21 minutes, Tottenham this time almost pulled off an unlikely comeback.

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min set up a tantalising finish before Richarlison equalised in the 93rd minute, only for Diogo Jota to score a minute later to snatch a 4-3 win for Liverpool.

That saw the Reds leapfrog Spurs into fifth, and Kane acknowledged his team can have no complaints after another dire first-half showing.

"There's only so many words you can use, the bottom line is you need to go out there and show it isn't that case," the England captain told Sky Sports. 

"It's on us to go away, find a reason why and see how it improves the situation. In these moments and these games, you can't do what we did at the end. It's a feeling of gut-wrenching defeat.

"The table doesn't lie, where we are doesn't lie. We've got some fantastic players and moments, but as a team we aren't playing good enough collectively.

"We need to show we can go through games when it isn't going our way. We deserve to be where we are.

"We have four games. This one is going to be hard to take, but we have a week until the next game, so we have to move on."

An insipid first-half showing from Tottenham was almost atoned for when Richarlison headed in, although the celebrations were soon cut short as Lucas Moura inadvertently rolled in Jota to slot past Fraser Forster.

Spurs were aggrieved substitute Jota was still on the pitch at that point, though, with claims the Portugal forward should have been dismissed for a second-half aerial lunge on Oliver Skipp.

Jota was shown a yellow card for catching the head of Skipp with a flying boot, although interim Tottenham boss Ryan Mason believed the tackle deserved a red.

Mason told BBC Radio 5 Live: "Honestly, it's probably the clearest red card you will see on the football pitch. I need an explanation.

"It endangered the opponent, Skipp needs stitches, and Jota has scored the goal when he shouldn't be on the pitch."

Diogo Jota declared Liverpool are "back" after his last-gasp strike fired them to a 4-3 victory over fellow European hopefuls Tottenham at Anfield.

Liverpool looked set for a resounding win when goals from Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah put them 3-0 up within 15 minutes against a Spurs side bereft of confidence.

However, Tottenham staged a remarkable fightback as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min reduced the arrears before Richarlison dragged them level in the third minute of stoppage time.

But there was one final twist to come as Jota took advantage of Lucas Moura's misplaced pass to score the winner just 99 seconds after Tottenham had levelled things up.

Asked if Liverpool were back to their best after claiming a fourth successive Premier League win, Jota told Sky Sports: "Yeah. It feels great, and we just need to keep on going.

"We made it hard for ourselves. After being 3-0 up, we need to avoid being in this situation. But then in the end, it was a day to remember, especially for me, of course; the winner is always something special.

"Everyone dreams of scoring a last-minute winner. I saw the ball that wasn't properly defended, I believed I could score, and it was fantastic."

With Salah netting Liverpool's third after just 14 minutes and 16 seconds, the Reds have only been 3-0 up at an earlier stage of one previous Premier League game – in the eighth minute against Aston Villa in March 1996.

While he was delighted by Jota's dramatic intervention, right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was keen to ensure Liverpool learned from squandering a comfortable lead.

"It was crazy. What a game," Alexander-Arnold said. "These are the games we love to play in. A fantastic ending to a game. It's the stuff you love to see, to be honest.

"It's not so much relief, it's just celebration. It was about pushing to get the winner again. We went from disappointment to sheer joy in a matter of minutes, and it's an outstanding way to win.

"There's a lot we need to learn. We can't be drawing 3-3 when we're 3-0 up. That's not what top sides do, we needed to put the game to bed. They fought back, fair play to them."

Diogo Jota struck a stoppage-time winner as Liverpool clinched a dramatic 4-3 win over Tottenham, who had fought back from three goals down in a remarkable contest at Anfield. 

A week on from their 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United, Spurs looked set for more of the same when Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah scored within the first 15 minutes.

Unlike on Tyneside, Spurs showed plenty of fight as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min teed up a grandstand finish, before Richarlison's first league goal for the club levelled things up at 3-3 in stoppage time.

However, as Tottenham prepared to celebrate clinching the unlikeliest of draws, Jota latched onto Lucas Moura's error to fire home, sending Anfield into raptures and moving the Reds above their visitors in the Premier League table.