Liverpool have now secured back-to-back 2-0 victories against two of the Premier League’s top six sides, first defeating Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday before returning to Merseyside to sweep aside Newcastle United on Wednesday.
The Reds are also now a whopping 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League table after Arsenal drew to Nottingham Forest.
Despite the identical scorelines in their most recent games, the wins came in contrasting styles—Liverpool relied on smart, counter-attacking football against City but controlled the lion’s share of possession against Newcastle. Still, both showings felt controlled and professional, never requiring them to shift into top gear.
While the result against the Magpies wasn’t particularly surprising given Liverpool’s recent string of performances, what stood out as unexpected?
3. The lack of potency from Newcastle’s attack
There is no doubt Liverpool were fortunate that Newcastle striker Alexander Isak was unfit for the match, particularly after catching the same break with Erling Haaland’s unavailability against City.
However, even without Isak, Newcastle’s attacking struggles felt surprising, especially considering the thrilling 3-3 draw between these sides earlier this season.
Newcastle ended the match without a single shot on target—an eye-catching stat for a team that recently put four past Nottingham Forest, a team that has troubled Liverpool all season.
Save for two quite good opportunities that fell to Callum Wilson–one ultimately ruled offside in the 17th minute and another steered wide in the 30th minute–the Newcastle offense struggled to create much all evening long.
Many would have expected Anthony Gordon, the former Evertonian who always seems to be a thorn in Liverpool’s side, to produce some key chances in Isak’s absence, but even he was quiet for much of the match.
It was also quite surprising to see Newcastle not seem interested in generating attacks down Liverpool’s right hand side after Jeremy Doku dribbled past Trent Alexander-Arnold roughly a dozen times on Sunday, something Newcastle could have benefitted from attempting to replicate.
Credit the sublime partnership of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté for standing tall per usual, but one can only wonder what the Newcastle front line could have produced if Isak, who has scored nine times in his last 10 Premier League matches, was ready to go.
2. The team’s hesitance to rest its midfielders
Perhaps unsurprisingly, both of Liverpool’s goals came from midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, a continuation of the pair’s dazzling form over Liverpool’s last few games.
However, I was puzzled to see Szoboszlai, who recently collapsed on the pitch after his tireless performance against City, complete the full 90 minutes, in addition to fellow midfielders Ryan Gravenberch and Mac Allister being subbed off in the 77th and 87th minutes, respectively.
With Liverpool seemingly in full control after Mac Allister’s 63rd-minute goal, I might have opted for a triple substitution to give this outstanding midfield trio as much rest as possible given the physical demands of the position. Interim boss Johnny Heitinga saw things differently.
Given Wataru Endo’s ultra-reliable track record of seeing games out and Curtis Jones' very good performance against City, this seemed like a sensible move to me, but I was surprised to see just how long Szobo, Macca and Gravy were left out there.
The collective motor this midfield has is nothing short of special, particularly highlighted by Ryan Gravnberch’s 2,396 minutes played in the league, cracking the top 15 for all players; but could they have been yanked sooner?
The club’s next fixture, a highly anticipated clash against PSG, being seven days away does provide plenty of time for these three to rest, but I would have considered placing my faith in Liverpool’s excellent backup midfielders a hair earlier.
After a clash that promises to deliver against the Parisian giants, I would certainly think about giving players like Harvey Elliott or Endo a starting position in the Reds’ next Premier League fixture, a meeting with lowly Southampton at Anfield.
1. Mo Salah not scoring
What a pretentious thing to have listed as #1, but the Egyptian King sets standards for himself that nobody else in world football could be held to at the moment.
Of course he added an assist to his outrageous G/A output on Mac Allister’s excellent finish, but it was indeed quite surprising to see Salah not extend his league goal scoring streak to seven games on an evening when the Newcastle backline was not at its sharpest.
Salah certainly had his chances, and I was surprised that Lewis Hall’s clumsy challenge on him in the opening minutes wasn’t given more serious consideration as a penalty—one he would have likely buried.
That said, seeing Salah go a game without scoring has become something of a rarity these days.
It’s perhaps an overall good sign that Liverpool are still capable of winning games in which Salah doesn’t score, though–something that I’ve questioned myself at some points of the season.
And even without another goal to this game, Salah still proved to be one of the most dangerous players on the pitch all night, coming that close to a brace of assists when Luis Díaz was unable to turn in a wonderful cross from the Egyptian in the 73rd minute.
Any goal contribution is still wonderful for Salah at this point in the season, a phase when he can very viably be chasing individual records with the title all but wrapped up–now at 17 league assists and 25 league goals already, could we see the first 20/20 season since Premier League legend Thierry Henry did it in the 2002-2003 season?