Just seven days on from conceding five goals in the first 21 minutes in a 6-1 humiliation by top-four rivals Newcastle on Tyneside, Spurs found themselves 3-0 down after only a quarter of an hour at Anfield.
Curtis Jones was left completely unmarked to steer home after a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross in just the third minute on Merseyside, with Luis Diaz extending the lead two minutes later by sweeping in Cody Gakpo’s clever ball to the front post.
Things went from bad to worse for Tottenham after just 15 minutes when Mohamed Salah made it 3-0 from the penalty spot, punishing the chronically out-of-form Cristian Romero for a woeful challenge on Gakpo.
Several Spurs fans were pictured appearing to head for the exits after the third goal went in at Anfield, just as they had done after the early hammering at St James’ Park last weekend.
Neville, on co-commentary duties for Sky Sports on Sunday, did not pull any punches in his assessment of another utterly woeful opening from Tottenham, who had hoped to build some momentum after fighting back from 2-0 down at half-time to claim an unlikely point at home to Manchester United on Thursday night.
“They may as well set up a direct debit to the fans,” teased the former United and England right-back in conversation with Martin Tyler, referencing the embarrassed Spurs players’ decision to refund the cost of match tickets for the fans that travelled to Newcastle.
Neville reserved special criticism for under-fire Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, present to witness another early collapse at Anfield as the travelling fans once again called for his exit, adding: “He’s appointed three confrontational managers on the bounce.
“It was about five or six years ago where he had them in the Champions League final, second in the league, appointed [Mauricio] Pochettino, playing great football, just come off the back of Harry Redknapp.
“They built a world-class stadium, got a world-class training ground, and then all of a sudden the appointment of managers in terms of alignment to the club over the last few years has been absolutely shambolic.”
Despite their wretched start at Anfield, Tottenham to their credit, pulled a goal back through Harry Kane and created enough chances to suggest that they should have gone in at half-time only 3-2 behind or possibly even level, rather than 3-1.
That theme of trying to punish Liverpool for coasting continued in the early stages of the second half, when Heung-min Son and Cristian Romero both struck the woodwork in the space of a minute.
