PLAYER RATINGS: Liverpool Move Another Inch Closer to Premier League Glory After 2-0 Win Against Newcastle
“We shall not be moved,” sang the Anfield crowd as news of Arsenal’s 0-0 draw came through. The thing is, they look likely to be correct. Liverpool’s 2-0 win against Newcastle puts them 13 points clear, and moving out of first place seems improbable at this stage.
Liverpool dominated the early proceedings, punishing Newcastle on the counter; however, only Szoboszlai’s goal would separate the teams at halftime.
The away side came out stronger in the second-half but a top corner finish from Alexis Mac Allister would double Liverpool’s lead, stunting the momentum of their visitors.
Let’s dive into the player ratings.
Liverpool vs Newcastle Player Ratings
Liverpool
Alisson (7): Genuinely could have read a newspaper all game and still kept a clean sheet. Newcastle barely threatened his goal.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (7.5): Probably glad Doku didn’t make a quick loan switch to Newcastle. A much improved game from the Liverpool vice captain on both ends of the pitch.
Ibrahima Konate (7): Got beat a couple times by Callum Wilson, and perhaps fortunate it wasn’t Isak there to punish him. Other than a few lapses, he was impressive throughout the 90.
Virgil van Dijk (8): Imperious as always. Any sign of danger was sniffed out immediately. Hit a century of passes tonight, which is quite neat.
Kostas Tsimikas (7): Made a claim that perhaps the LB position could be his. Suspect he needs another couple of games to really pry it away from Andy Robertson, though. The question is, will he be given the chance?
Ryan Gravenberch (7): Liverpool’s No. 6 “solution” is showing why he is the business. Professional performance from the Dutchman who didn’t put a foot wrong.
Alexis Mac Allister (7): Defensively, he was bullied by the more physical Newcastle midfield, but his goal was immaculate. On the ball, sublime. Off the ball, not his best game.
Dominik Szoboszlai (8.5): One of the Reds most important players is finally getting his flowers since adding goals and assists to his game. Even without his goal, his rating would be on the high end. Endless energy from the Hungarian once again. MOTM.
Mohamed Salah (8): The man is on track for a record-breaking season after picking up another assist. Well worked to lay the ball off to Mac Allister for the Reds second goal. Nearly had assist of the season if Luis Diaz had his shooting boots on.
Diogo Jota (5): The Portuguese forward was fairly quiet and was rarely involved in attacking play. Still finding his way after returning from injury.
Luis Diaz (7.5): Much better today than previous weeks, and done well to get his assist. Should have scored after a sensational Salah pass, though.
Subs
Cody Gakpo (6): Still returning from a small injury, and didn’t look quite at it yet. Another good run out, however
Jarrel Quansah (6): Came on at RB, and you could tell he was a little excited. He tried to bomb down the flank any chance he got.
Wataru Endo (6): Liverpool’s go-to man to close out a game and provide Gravenberch with some much-needed rest. Solid.
Curtis Jones (N/A): Didn’t have any time to do anything of note.
Darwin Nunez (N/A): Slot will be happy that he worked harder in his 7-minute cameo compared to previous appearances.
Newcastle United
Nick Pope (): A day to forget for Pope. He only had three shots on target against him, with two being goals.
Tino Livramento (5.5): Had a tough job against a Luis Diaz who seemed really up for the game. Not overly impressive, but also wasn’t a disastrous display.
Fabian Schär (5.5): The Swiss international surprisingly struggled today. The defender only won 28.57% of his duels. Not good enough.
Dan Burn (6): Better than his defensive partner but not by much.
Lewis Hall (6.5): Dealt with Salah quite well in all honesty, but when a player like the Egyptian is in the form he is in, you have to be perfect.
Sandro Tonali (6): Newcastle’s dynamo in the middle. He made a couple good breakaways, which eventually petered out due to no fault of his own.
Bruno Guimarães (5.5): Avoided a yellow somehow despite various bookable offences. Not the Brazilian’s finest night as he just couldn’t seem to get his team going.
Joe Willock (5): Felt anonymous at times. Didn’t notice his presence, and he was not often involved when the Toon had bright moments.
Jacob Murphy (6.5): Newcastle’s liveliest attacker but was just unable to get anything of substance off when it came to creating or shooting.
Callum Wilson (5): Missed an absolute sitter in the first half, one you would likely say makes it 1-1 at the time if Isak was playing. Got a nasty cut after a head collision with van Dijk.
Anthony Gordon (5): Unusually quiet. After seeing Trent’s game against Doku, you would have thought he would try his chances more.
Subs
Lewis Miley (6): Miley coming on didn’t quite kick Newcastle into gear, but there was also no drop-off. Solid cameo from the youngster.
Kieran Trippier (6.5): Trippier was a noticeable improvement from Livramento. He moved the ball well, defended well, and didn’t do much wrong since his introduction.
William Osula (5): 5 touches, 1 pass. There really isn’t much to say. Didn’t make the impact his sub was likely intended to do.
Harvey Barnes (5.5): Like Osula, his impact was minimal, although he was slightly more involved in the game.
Sean Longstaff (N/A): Played a couple minutes.
Newcastle will certainly come away disappointed and will hope they don’t put out the same kind of performance in the League Cup final. When it comes to Liverpool, while they won’t admit it, you would expect the title to arrive at Anfield this season, bringing the Reds to 20 league titles.
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