Harry Kane capitalised on calamitous Liverpool defending to guide Tottenham Hotspur to a 4-1 win over the Reds in an entertaining Premier League tie at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.

The Spurs striker opened his home account for the Lilywhites as early as the 5th minute to get the home side off to a perfect start.

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Reds centre-back Dejan Lovren was at fault for the opener but his miserable outing, which lasted little over 30 minutes, effectively ended Liverpool hopes of a win as he was culpable for Spurs’ second goal as well.

The Croatian centre-back would then inexplicably allow Kane to run unchecked on the wing and the forward laid it on a plate for his teammate Heung Min-Son to tap-in with just 12 minutes on the clock.

Even as Spurs threatened to run away with the match, Liverpool would reduce the deficit via in-form winger Mohamed Salah in the 24th minute.

It was end-to-end football at its best as Spurs were caught out while pressing for the third, with Jordan Henderson splitting the home defence open with an immaculate through-ball for Salah to run onto and beat Hugo Lloris with an effort that went in off the post.

Salah was their brightest outlet but the Egyptian winger was quickly isolated by the hosts’ defenders and in stark contrast, Spurs looked like scoring from a number of sources.

Jurgen Klopp took off the misfiring Lovren for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and while the change in system seemed to have worked initially, the Reds were undone thanks to some slack defending on their part.

And the Lilywhites would score a crucial third goal just before the half-time whistle sounded. Dele Alli would be the man to extend Liverpool’s misery and at that moment, a Liverpool comeback seemed highly unlikely.

The second-half started with Spurs on the front-foot and it was Kane who would come to the fore again to extend his side’s lead. Simon Mignolet made a hash of a cross and dropped the ball at Jan Vertonghen’s feet. While the backtracking Roberto Firmino saved the Spurs defender’s shot with his body, the rebound fell to Kane and the striker finished from close range to score his side’s fourth.

Philippe Coutinho tried his best to reduce the deficit but Hugo Lloris was in inspired form and was saving anything the Liverpool players sent at him.

There was a moment of concern for the home fans later on as Kane went down clutching his hamstring and had to be replaced in the 88th minute but all in all, it was an extremely satisfying outing for Mauricio Pochettino’s men.

They are now level on points with second-placed Manchester United, behind only on goal difference. Manchester City remain five points clear of the chasing pack but Spurs will take hart by their demolition of Liverpool as they seek to reel in the runaway leaders in the coming weeks.

For Liverpool, however, there seems to be no respite in sight and it is the second time this season they have lost heavily to a direct rival. In ninth place with 13 points, they are effectively out of the title race as City are an massive 12 points ahead.