Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Mousa Dembele has confessed that his side failed to turn up at Anfield after falling to a 2-0 defeat to top-four rivals Liverpool.

The Lilywhites' disappointing away streak against the division's elite sides continued at the weekend, as two goals in the space of 138 first-half seconds from Sadio Mane earned the hosts victory.

Having seen Spurs caught cold by Liverpool, Dembele admits that he and his teammates only have themselves to blame after missing out on the chance to close the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea.

"They were much more aggressive than us and started much better than us," he told the club's official website. "At the end we can ask as many questions as we want but they were more aggressive and wanted to win more than us. I don't know why.

"The way we started, maybe we were too lax, maybe we were too complacent - it's difficult to answer. Everybody could see that they were on top of us and in every battle they were more aggressive than us."

Tottenham, who have now won just one of their last 16 games against teams in the top six, sit second in the table and 10 points off rivals Chelsea.