The Lilywhites struggled at Wembley Stadium, although might have salvaged a point had they been awarded a late penalty

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino conceded Liverpool deserved their victory at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

The Reds secured all three points thanks to goals from Georginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino while Erik Lamela netted a late consolation for Spurs.

Even though Liverpool were the much better team in Brent, Tottenham could have claimed a point had Sadio Mane’s tackle inside the penalty area on Heung-min Son been penalised.

It wasn’t though, and Jurgen Klopp’s team deservedly left the capital with a fifth win this season.

Pochettino said: “I think the performance wasn’t great, but there is no change. If you analyse the first five games, I think the performance was similar in all the games, but the opponents were all different.

“If you make a lot of mistakes then of course in front is Liverpool, one of the best teams in Europe, so you are sure to be punished because of the team and quality they have on the pitch.”

He continued: “First of all, I want to say that they deserved the victory, but if you analyse the game like some key moments, the goal that we conceded. I would say the first half was even and we conceded again from a set piece.

“I think at the start of the second half, we moved players into different options to try to find more solutions in offensive situations and try to score.

“When Lucas Moura hit the post, that was the key moment to get the confidence that the team needed in this type of game. When Liverpool scored, of course they have a lot of pace in front and it is difficult when they create counter attacks and transitions to control when you take the risks.

“In the end, I think everyone saw very clearly it was a penalty on Son from Mane. I think we should be talking in a different way now. If it was given, it’s 2-2 and now we are talking about character and personality, but that is not going to change with different results.

“We need to improve a lot. I told you after Newcastle United, Fulham and Old Trafford and like in Watford and now, the circumstances are the circumstances and the reality the reality.

“We need to still improve and improve a lot. This type of game shows you that we need to improve if we want to contend in the end to win some titles.”