'Thanks for that': Eddie Howe reacts to Liverpool fielding weakened team against Chelsea and ultimately losing

Newcastle United managed to cling on to fourth place in the Premier League on Sunday after only managing to pick up a draw against Brighton down at the AMEX Stadium.

The Magpies would have reclaimed third spot had they managed to pick up their first-ever Premier League win at the Credit Card Stadium, but the struggle for superiority over the Seagulls continues.

A point kept the Magpies in fourth, but a win for Chelsea in the later kick-off would see them move onto the same points, and indeed a 3-0 win would have seen them steal fourth on goal difference.

Thankfully, they were playing Premier League champions Liverpool, so there was no danger of that. Right?

Eddie Howe was told about Chelsea taking the lead during his post-match press conference

There probably wouldn't have been were Liverpool not already on the beach and Arne Slot had fielded his usual team, but instead the Dutchman made four changes, which, as we had said may happen, disrupted their flow. As such, Chelsea did score three past the Reds, but Slot's side did manage to score one too, which means Newcastle and Chelsea are now on the same points and same goal difference.

Eddie Howe managed to keep a level head when asked about Slot fielding a weak side, but didn't seem too chuffed when he was informed by the media that Chelsea had taken the lead. (h/t Liverpool Echo).

"Brilliant thanks for that!

“Liverpool have got to do what Liverpool have to do. I am not involved in their football club. We play Chelsea next week, so that's all we focus on now."

Eddie Howe may have kept his cool but Newcastle fans were raging

While Eddie is right that we should only need to concern ourselves with our own results, as our destiny is still in our own hands, when an opposition team is just throwing points away to our direct rivals, it's hard not to get a little bit upset.

We're sure that behind the scenes, Eddie is fuming as a full-strength Liverpool would never have fallen to such a heavy defeat.

Still, there's nothing to be done, Arne Slot is well within his rights to change his players around, and it's not as if he was playing a team of academy players. The simple fact is, they still should have done better.

We can't rely on others to help us out, so we need to pick ourselves up and win the next three games. I was confident that we could, but now I'm worried about Chelsea again.