Digging Deeper Into Liverpool’s Big Win Over Newcastle

What a wild opening 25 minutes! Liverpool weathered an early storm (!!!), and then scored two quick goals after some fantastic work from the entire attacking band (!!!!!). The icing on the cake was when Alisson Becker made a save and then immediately launched a quick counter up to Mohammed Salah that drew Nick Pope out into no-man’s land where the goalkeeper handled the ball and was shown a straight red card. With a two goal lead, Liverpool managed the game to see out a fairly comfortable win.

Below, we take a look at some winners and losers on the night, and attempt to disentangle narrative from fact.

Winners

Alisson Becker
The Liverpool goalkeeper did it all against Newcastle. He made a massive save early on to keep Liverpool from going behind, and made a few other big saves to keep the Magpies off the board. He also started the quick transition to Mohamed Salah that led to Nick Pope getting sent off.

Attacking Edge
After months of attacking futility, Liverpool’s attack seems to have found its mojo again. Liverpool scored two goals BEFORE Nick Pope was sent off, with each of the front three getting on the scoresheet. Darwin Nunez did a fantastic ball to take a long ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold before rifling the ball past Pope in the 10th minute, and then Mohamed Salah played a sumptuous first time chip over the top for the perfectly timed run of Cody Gakpo in the 17th minute. Liverpool generated plenty more big chances, especially late in the second half while up a man, but it was great to see the quicker ball movement and transitions and have it translate into a couple of goals.

Virgil van Dijk
Virgil looked pretty darn sharp after missing the last couple of weeks with a hamstring injury. The big man just exudes composure and class in the back, and it definitely seems to help settle everyone else down.

VAR
There have been too many instances of VAR incorrectly being applied, but it got all of the big decisions right today. It’s a sad state to praise the VAR officials for NOT getting it wrong, but here we are.

Losers

Nick Pope
I mean, what in the hell was he thinking? He horribly missed his diving header well outside his own box before blatantly pulling the ball in with his hand.

Another Day, Another Injury
Liverpool are finally getting depth back in the attacking band, with Diogo Jota and Roberto returning the play in the past week. Unfortunately, Darwin Nunez looked to have landed awkwardly on his shoulder shortly before he was planned to have been withdrawn. Hopefully it’s not anything serious.

Cracks in the Defense
Yes, Liverpool kept a clean sheet for their second match in a row. There were still altogether too many decent chances for Newcastle throughout the match, especially with the Magpies playing down a man for most of the match. Newcastle forced Alisson into several huge saves and hit the woodwork from close range. I understand that Liverpool had a two goal lead, but they really

Dissecting the Narrative

Just a week ago, most of the chatter revolved around Liverpool being done and dusted, while Newcastle were pretty much nailed on in the top four. The Reds are finally showing signs of life, and have won two on the bounce in fairly impressive fashion. The six points from those matches have taken Liverpool from 10th to 8th in the table. The Reds are now only six points behind a suddenly struggling Newcastle with one or two games in hand over most of the teams in front of them.

What Happens Next

After a a week that has let hope creep back in for Liverpool supporters, the Reds return to Champion’s League play on Wednesday. Liverpool will host Real Madrid on Wednesday in a rematch of the last season’s UCL final.