Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz – making his first start for the Reds in more than six months – netted inside the opening five minutes at a buoyant Anfield.
That quickfire lead was increased by Mohamed Salah’s penalty on the quarter-hour mark, though the Londoners rallied and struck back through Harry Kane before the break.
Son Heung-min reduced their deficit and Richarlison then equalised in stoppage time, but substitute Jota produced a sublime low finish in front of the Kop to reclaim victory and move Liverpool up to fifth in the table.
Team news
Jürgen Klopp deployed three changes from the midweek win at West Ham United, with Diaz, Harvey Elliott and Ibrahima Konate brought in to the XI.
Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Fabinho, Elliott (Henderson, 62), Jones (Milner, 86), Diaz (Jota, 63), Salah, Gakpo (Nunez, 73).
Unused subs: Kelleher, Gomez, Tsimikas, Carvalho, Matip.
First half
Seeking a fourth consecutive Premier League win, the Reds made a blistering start that produced a two-goal lead before five minutes had elapsed.
First, they worked play out to the right channel and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who spotted a free Jones lurking at the back post with a cross that the No.17 dispatched low off his left foot.
Salah then threaded an angled pass through to Cody Gakpo’s sprint to the byline on the right and the Dutchman pulled the ball back perfectly for Diaz to meet with a clinical, first-time thump beyond Fraser Forster that delighted scorer and stadium.
Liverpool had their opponents pressed back and they had the chance to further their advantage again when Cristian Romero brought down Gakpo inside the box.
Salah stepped up to spot-kick duty and deftly lifted it high down the centre, the conversion moving him up to outright sixth place on the club’s all-time top scorers list.
The Egyptian was not too far away with a curling hit from the edge of the Spurs area that drifted wide of the left post soon after, as the Reds’ passing purred.
But the visitors turned the tide in the closing stages of a frantic half, with Virgil van Dijk needing to deliver a brilliant last-ditch block to deny Son’s goalbound finish.
Kane did reduce their deficit on 40 minutes, however. Ivan Perisic escaped into space along the left flank, got past a slipping Van Dijk and swung a cross into the box for the Tottenham captain to volley in.
Alisson Becker then had to stretch out a boot to thwart Dejan Kulusevski when he stole possession from Andy Robertson and burst forward, while Son saw a curler strike the post before a belated offside flag.
Second half
The XIs were unchanged when play resumed and Spurs quickly served reminders that they had not given up on working their way back into the contest.
Son planted a low swerver from 20 yards off the base of the right post and, seconds later, Romero acrobatically flicked the ball against the other frame of the goal from Kane’s delivery into the centre of the area with Alisson beaten.
Liverpool’s goalkeeper then tipped over a wallop from range by Pedro Porro, before Klopp shuffled his pack with the introduction of Jordan Henderson and Jota from the bench.
The Reds regained greater control of possession and that stemmed the momentum the away side had built up, with clear chances petering out at both ends of the pitch heading into the final quarter-hour.
However, with 77 played, Romero’s pass over the top released Son to attack Alisson’s goal and the Spurs forward kept his composure to slot low into the net.
The Londoners completed their comeback three minutes into added time as Richarlison glanced in Son’s free-kick – but within moments Jota pounced on a miscontrol, ran through and arrowed the winner into the bottom corner as Anfield erupted.
Attendance: 53,275