Newcastle United's win-less run at Anfield rolls into its 30th year after the hosts ran away 4-2 winners in the Premier League on New Year's Day.
It was a game where Newcastle conceded four goals and the only person worthy of the star man award was the goalkeeper, and if that doesn't tell you everything you need to know about the game, let me continue.
Liverpool absolutely dominated the game, and that's not hyperbole. They had 63% possession, which, to be fair is a lot lower than it felt, but they had 34 (thirty-four just in case you thought that was a typo) shots, 15 of which were on target. Newcastle had five, three of which were goal-bound, two of which went in.
Martin Dubravka was absolutely outstanding between the sticks tonight with none of Liverpool's goals being even remotely is fault except for the fourth which was a penalty which he conceded ... although, in typical Liverpool v Newcastle fashion, was absolutely never a penalty but they have to have one huge decision go their way in this fixture, don't they?
The Magpies somehow went in at halftime all square after riding their luck like Frankie Dettori with Liverpool having the ball in the net which was ruled out for a very tight offside, also Mo Salah missed a penalty thanks to a brilliant save by Dubravka.
Newcastle also had the ball in the net and just like the earlier Liverpool goal, VAR ruled it out for a very tight offside.
It didn't take Liverpool long to break the deadlock in the second half with Mo Salah scoring on 49 minutes, but Newcastle were level just five minutes later thanks to a smart finish by Alexander Isak.
The hosts then ran into a two-goal lead with Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo scoring two goals in four minutes before Sven Botman replied once again making it 3-2. However, Liverpool had the last laugh with a pathetic penalty decision and Mo Salah made no mistake second time around to make it 4-2.
It was a game we never expected to win, but we never really expected to be so far off the pace that it was almost laughable. It's terrifying to imagine what the score would have been were it not for Dubravka.
That's seven defeats in eight games now and Sunderland are our next opponents. We've laughed off reports that Eddie Howe is under pressure, but we will be forced to change our tune if we don't win on Saturday
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
13 | 18 | 34 |
2 |
Arsenal
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
4 |
Brighton
|
13 | 5 | 23 |
5 |
Manchester City
|
13 | 3 | 23 |
6 |
Nottingham Forest
|
13 | 3 | 22 |
7 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
13 | 14 | 20 |
8 |
Brentford
|
13 | 3 | 20 |
9 |
Manchester United
|
13 | 4 | 19 |
10 |
Fulham
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
11 |
Newcastle United
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
12 |
Aston Villa
|
13 | -3 | 19 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
13 | 1 | 18 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
13 | -7 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
13 | -11 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
13 | -11 | 10 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
13 | -7 | 9 |
18 |
Wolves
|
13 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
13 | -11 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
13 | -15 | 5 |