Liverpool 4 Newcastle 1
Important win for Liverpool at Anfield. Newcastle actually came out the better team in the first half and deserved to take the lead through Anthony Gordon in the 36th minute but that seemed to fire up the Liverpool players in particular Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike who were magnificent all night with Ekitike scoring two quickfire goals to put Liverpool in the lead by the 43rd minute going into half time. The second half was more like it from Liverpool with Wirtz securing a third goal to all but seal the game after good work from Salah down the wing, Konate put the icing on the cake at the end to give Liverpool a much deserved three points on the night.
Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike are must watch TV. I must say that it was an absolute pleasure to watch Wirtz and Ekitike tonight, the combination for Liverpool’s first goal was spectacular and they were too much to handle for Newcastle for the entire 90 minutes. Ekitike has been electric ever since he stepped foot in England but its taken Wirtz a bit longer to finally hit the form we all know he’s capable of in a Liverpool shirt. At times he really is breath-taking to watch dribble and he seems to see passes that no one else sees. If Liverpool can keep them two fit and firing they are going to be a problem in the Champions League for just about anyone.
More dropped points for Newcastle after a European match. I’ve got to say that I was surprised that Eddie Howe didn’t start with a natural number 9 up front opting instead to start Gordon in that position and I do think it hurt Newcastle tonight when they were out wide and there was no one in the middle for the wingers to pick out with both Wissa and Woltemade sitting on the bench. Newcastle were also without Bruno Guimares and Joelinton who were both injured and you can see the difference in quality in Newcastle’s midfield without them both. I was disappointed with Anthony Elanga’s performance up against Milos Kerkez, he just lacks that end quality that’s really needed in games like this when he has space to work with against a left-back who’s flattered to deceive so far for Liverpool. Newcastle will be hoping there’s a lot more to come from Elanga after spending so much on him in the summer.
Much better defensively from Liverpool. Last week against Bournemouth was a disaster from just about every point of view but in particular some of the defending for the goals was shambolic. The much needed return of Konate brought back some stability for the defence and it seems like Dominic Szoboszlai is there best option at right-back right now. Whilst there’s still some signs of weakness at the back especially with runs in behind Liverpool were quite comfortable dealing with Newcastle’s pretty rapid attack for a lot of that game which will be pleasing to Arne Slot.
Third has to be the aim for Liverpool in the league. In addition to challenging for the FA Cup and Champions League Liverpool have to be aiming for 3rd with the team that they’ve got. They currently 7 points off of Aston Villa who have a game in hand but you’d imagine that with 14 matches remaining in the season that Liverpool should be looking up rather than down. Aston Villa are also in 3 competitions at the minute and are going through an injury crisis of their own, I wouldn’t be shocked to see them fall into the battle for the Champions League places over the next few weeks.