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The Reds confirmed themselves as champions with their 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, as World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister added another trophy to his fast-growing collection

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has praised the contribution his “stand-out” midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has made to their Premier League title success. While the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and even Ryan Gravenberch may be high up in the running for the club’s player of the year Mac Allister has, at times, gone unnoticed.

However, the Argentina World Cup winner started to reach peak form after Christmas and it was his goal to put Liverpool 2-1 up against Tottenham which kicked off the title party at Anfield last weekend.

“I don’t think he is underrated by me because he played maybe every game or close to every game,” said Slot. “Maybe the few times he didn’t play that was because he needed rest or he got a knock, so he couldn’t play. (He’s a) very important player, (has) game intelligence (and is) so comfortable on the ball.

“But what makes him even more special to me is normally players that have so much game inside and are so comfortable on the ball are not as aggressive and intense without the ball.

“He is one of the few players in the world that combines this great game intelligence, great on the ball, but (with) a tenacity without the ball. In our midfield, he stands out in terms of tenacity.”

Slot has promised to make changes in the final four matches of the season to ensure fringe players are given an opportunity to increase their pitch time.

However, even though the title has been secured, holding a 15-point lead over second-placed Arsenal heading into the weekend, that does not mean he expects his players to be any less competitive, although he accepts with the job done there may be a drop in performance.

“We are going into these four games trying to win them all, of course, that’s what we always want, that’s what every player, every Liverpool shirt should aim for – winning a game of football,” the Dutchman added.

“I would judge us more on the amount of points we have now compared to teams that won it in the past four games before the end, because there’s definitely a difference if we’re still competing than the games we play now.

“That’s not to say that we’re going to lose them, we have a lot of trust in the players we’re going to play now as well.”

Tottenham's top goalscorer Brennan Johnson netted his 17th of the season on Thursday night in the Europa League semi-final first leg win over Bodo/Glimt and now he's determined to earn Sunday's derby bragging rights vs West Ham

Brennan Johnson insists Tottenham are fired up to face West Ham - because victory would set the tone for next week's crunch Europa League semi-final second leg against Bodo/Glimt.

Spurs now have one foot in Bilbao as they'll take a precious two-goal lead to the Arctic Circle. But Johnson, who headed home the opener inside 40 seconds to stun the Norwegians, is determined to build upon Thursday's success by inflicting further misery upon their struggling London rivals.

He said ahead of today's trip across the capital: "It could be massive, it's a big game so for us, it's the most important game. Momentum is such a big thing in football, we're looking to get as much momentum going as we can before next week.

"It's been tough because the Premier League results have not been great and that's something that we're all aware of. It's a tough switch, we wish we could just roll into these big European games having won matches in the Premier League but unfortunately it just hasn't been like that this season."

Tottenham savaged 10-man West Ham in a brutal 4-1 beatdown on home soil back in October. However, Spurs have still lost three more top-flight matches (19) than the crisis-hit Hammers (16) this season and defeat to Graham Potter's side would see Tottenham plummet to 17th place in the table.

Still, Johnson claims Thursday's rip-roaring display against Bodo/Glimt was living proof the dressing room still has total faith in under-fire boss Ange Postecoglou. He said confidently when asked if the Aussie still has the backing of his squad: "For sure, that's never been in question.

"Games like Thursday hopefully show that all the lads listen to everything that he says and at the end of the day, especially in the Europa League, the game plans have come off perfectly as you also saw in Frankfurt. Hopefully we can do that again next week and get to the final."

Back-post merchant Johnson is Tottenham's top-goalscorer this season having found the net an impressive 17 times in all competitions. That's more than he's managed in each of his last two seasons combined.

And the last time Spurs netted inside the opening minute of a European match - December 1971 against Rapid Bucharest - they went on to lift the trophy (UEFA Cup).

Johnson revealed his father David, who was a prolific forward for Ipswich and Nottingham Forest after coming through the ranks at Manchester United, serves as his greatest source of inspiration.

The 23-year-old said: "I want to make him and the whole family proud. It's something I always want to do whenever I step onto the pitch and I feel that energy with me, I feel the team's energy with me and yeah, scoring that many goals this season is something I'm really happy with.

"It's a challenge that I set myself at the start of the season so I'm happy with how it's going, especially after scoring in a game like Thursday."

Ange Postecoglou has come out fighting, with the Tottenham Hotspur manager under huge pressure after a disappointing season that could yet be rescued by a Europa League triumph

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has taken a swipe at Liverpool, claiming there is a "national campaign" when refereeing decisions go against them. Postecoglou also took aim at his own club and suggested that former players who now work as pundits should be more positive about Spurs.

Tottenham currently sit 14th in the Premier League and Postecoglou is under huge pressure, with Spurs' Europa League challenge expected to be a key factor in his future at the club. Tottenham face Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals this month and would qualify for the Champions League if they can win the tournament.

Speaking ahead of Tottenham's clash with Southampton on Sunday, Postecoglou came out fighting in his pre-match press conference. "I think in the time I've been here, we've had two decisions that have gone for us against Liverpool and there has been a national campaign, almost," he said.

"It seems like every fight ends up being an internal fight at this club. There's never any sort of defending of the club or the club defending itself. That's a unique challenge, but I accepted that challenge so I've got to try to find a way to overcome it."

When asked how Spurs should defend itself, Postecoglou explained: "By being more vocal. I hope not [just the manager]. I think you hear enough from me, you probably hear too much from me, to be honest.

"It doesn't have to be just from people at the club. I hear plenty of people talking and defending other clubs but it seems, with Tottenham, wherever there's a sore there's a real pile-on to sort of stick a finger in that sore and then we kind of accept our fate.

"You guys know the landscape better than I do, but it seems like…I never switch it [the television] on and hear any sort of strong voice. The only voice you hear is me. When we're talking about the bigger clubs, there seems to be a lot more voices. And not always defending. You need scrutiny and constructive criticism as well.

"We definitely get enough of that! But we never get any of the other stuff. I think the fact that out of last night the big story is my interaction with the fans and not the fact a game of football was materially changed by technology.

"VAR said 'clear and obvious'. Six minutes for clear and obvious and I'd have thought that would be the story from last night, but it's not. Again, it's my interaction with the fans and how I've made things more difficult. You kind of go 'OK, well, that's the challenge we face'."

Postecoglou is referencing the fact that Spurs fans chanted "you don't know what you're doing" after he replaced Lucas Bergvall with Pape Sarr against Chelsea on Thursday. Sarr then scored moments later and Postecoglou appeared to cup his ear towards the fans, only for the goal to be ruled out after a lengthy VAR check.

Postecoglou, though, denied claims his gesture was a response to the chants in a tense interview with Sky Sports after the 1-0 defeat. "I wanted the supporters to cheer," he insisted.

"I thought it was a cracking goal. They've booed my substitutions before. It had nothing to do with them booing my substitutions."