With five minutes left Glenn Hoddle's men thought they'd salvaged a point when Dean Richards headed home from a Milenko Acimovic cross.
But Michael Owen was brought down in the area in the dying minutes and converted his penalty to earn a deserved three points for Gerard Houllier's men.
Liverpool: Dudek, Carragher, Traore, Hyypia, Riise, Gerrard (Smicer 68), Hamann, Diao, Murphy, Diouf (Baros 58), Owen.
Subs Not Used: Kirkland, Babbel, Cheyrou.
Booked: Diouf, Smicer.
Tottenham: Keller, Perry, Richards, Bunjevcevic, Carr, Freund, Redknapp (Etherington 90), Poyet (Acimovic 80), Davies, Keane, Sheringham (Ferdinand 75).
Subs Not Used: Hirschfeld, Gardner.
Booked: Redknapp, Carr, Richards, Freund.
Attendance: 44,084
Referee: M Riley (W Yorkshire).