Former Tottenham striker Gary Lineker believes Liverpool would have beaten Spurs on Sunday regardless of what tactics Ange Postecoglou employed in their 6-3 loss – as they're simply a much superior team.

The Lilywhites were humbled in their own backyard by Arne Slot's rampant Reds as Postecoglou saw his side go 5-1 down with just 60 minutes played. While Spurs did muster up a comeback of sorts, wrestling the match back to 5-3 after Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke struck in the final 20 minutes, it wasn't enough as Luis Diaz grabbed his second of the game to make it six and top off a rousing win for table-topping Liverpool.

Postecoglou has been on the receiving end of some harsh criticism for the way he's set his team up in some of Spurs' most notable defeats this season, despite dealing with a host of injuries, especially in defence. However, Lineker is of the opinion that Spurs would not have been able to live with Slot's team with whatever side they put out on the pitch or whatever system their Australian manager utilised.

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James Maddison had pulled one back for Spurs in the first half after Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister had made it 2-0 within 35 minutes. And with Liverpool's deficit halved, it looked like Postecoglou's side had a real chance to claw their way back into the contest, but just minutes later, Dominik Szoboszlai was released centrally and he clinically slotted the ball through Fraser Forster's legs as Spurs were once again caught by a lethally fast break with too many of their players advanced high up the pitch and pressing at arguably the wrong time, just before the break.

Game management and adapting to the situation has been something many pundits have discussed about Spurs, given they would have been in a decent enough position at the break to regroup and go again if they were just 2-1 down and had shut up shop before the half time whistle. Ultimately, they were 3-1 down instead and failed to ever truly scare Liverpool.

Speaking on The Rest is Football podcast, Match of the Day host Lineker claimed that the Merseyside outfit were simply too strong and there was only ever going to be one outcome. "When those two teams lined up today, you thought, well, however Tottenham shape up, and they're going to get beaten by that [Liverpool] side, particularly if they're playing that well," Lineker said.

The former England striker did say, however, that Spurs' high-flying nature under Postecoglou – a style that has seen them become the highest scorers in the Premier League this season with 39 goals – must be appealing to fans due to the exciting brand of football on offer at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. This is despite Spurs currently sitting 11th in the table, which many fans blame Daniel Levy and the board for, blaming them for not properly backing the manager in the transfer market and leaving him with a squad lacking in proper depth to challenge higher. Protests against Levy were evident inside and outside of the stadium on Sunday.

"It's Tottenham. I mean, they're gung ho, we know that," Lineker added. "And he [Postecoglou] doesn't change things just because he's got a few injuries and played boring football.

"I mean, every time Tottenham play, I think, and some of the fans will disagree with me, and that's absolutely fine because we know it's a results business. But you must look forward to going to see the games and not knowing quite what to expect."

His colleague on the podcast, Alan Shearer, believes it was down to some player's naivety and recklessness that saw Spurs commit to attacking Liverpool just on the stroke of half-time, leaving them vulnerable for the Reds to all but put the match to bed. "Sometimes, as a player or a team, you have to take responsibility without your manager, without whatever way he wants to play," Shearer added.

"You know, they get to 2-1 today and a minute before halftime, it's still gung-ho. You just say, 'okay, we've actually taken a beating in that first half. If we can get to 2-1, we've probably been extremely lucky'. So once you get that goal, you say, 'okay, two minutes to half time, let's just see'.

"But yet, they still commit so many men forward and then get hit on the break. And once Liverpool get that third one, just before the break, you're thinking, done. I thought that minute cost them the game. And then they were never going to come back from that."

Up next for Spurs is a tough trip to fourth-placed Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.