Liverpool secured a convincing three points at Newcastle, boosting their chances of qualifying for the Champions League. This is what we noticed when Darwin Núñez scored.
Liverpool’s victory over Everton appears not to have been a one-off. Once again, against a considerably better opponent than their city rivals, the Reds put in a performance that looked a lot more like themselves in attack than they have shown for most of this season.
Inside 20 minutes, Darwin Núñez and Cody Gakpo had them 2-0 up, with two team goals that were superbly worked. Then Nick Pope stopped Mohamed Salah scoring a third by handballing outside the penalty area.
From that point, it was just about being professional and seeing the game out, with one eye on Real Madrid on Tuesday night. Newcastle certainly continued to try and cause problems but Liverpool just about did enough to maintain their advantage — not perfect and not without a couple of scares, but sufficient to earn a vital win.
Here are the four things Liverpool.com spotted as the game unfolded and the Reds moved within six points of the Champions League spots with a fixture in hand still to be played.
Alisson Becker proves his worth again
Liverpool’s goalkeeper has made a huge difference time after time this season, and did so again here.
He saved from Miguel Almirón in a one-vs-one when Newcastle was still playing with 11 men and caught a number of difficult crosses when under pressure.
There is a strong argument that he was the best Liverpool player on the day — certainly in the first half, when the match was won — with a string of important moments in what could have easily become a trickier outing even against 10.
Liverpool was poor from set-pieces at times and rode its luck in parts, but Alisson was a big part of the reason they won the points.
In this kind of match, you definitely can’t afford to go a goal down or offer any kind of hope when Newcastle is being beaten. Alisson was the main man when it came to denying them that.
Trent Alexander-Arnold back
Every time Liverpool’s creative hub got the ball in the first half, Newcastle’s defense would have been dreading what was to follow. In the second, his attacking prowess was needed less with a two-goal lead already established.
Núñez was the man to benefit most frequently in the opening 45 minutes, with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross-field balls put on a plate for the Uruguayan time after time in good positions.
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Every pass or cross from Alexander-Arnold was dangerous, all while he just about dealt with the threat of Allan Saint-Maximin going the other way.
It is no coincidence that Liverpool looked considerably better with their star creator looking in form. With these kind of performances, the Reds are giving themselves a chance, even if they will want to further improve.
Attack clicks into gear
Núñez was once again very effective off the left, scoring the opening goal after a superb pass from Alexander-Arnold.
Gakpo, too, dropping deep and linking things up at the tip of the midfield, was excellent and took his goal very well indeed.
Salah, meanwhile, looked lively, panicked Pope into a daft decision that will cost him a place in the Carabao Cup final next weekend, and delivered several world-class passes into teammates including his assist for the second.
It was always going to take some time for the new-look Jürgen Klopp forward line to find form, but it appears to have done so now. And then there is Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Luis Díaz to add into the mix.
Núñez, in particular, though, was electric with his running, intensity and a finish that Alan Shearer would have been pleased with at this stadium — a confident blast into the back of the net without a second thought.
Klopp, of course, has coaxed the best out of strikers in the past, with even Robert Lewandowski making a slow start to life under his management at Borussia Dortmund.
“I think Lewy would tell the same story,” Klopp said of the 23-year-old Núñez at the end of 2023. “We had shooting sessions where he didn’t finish off one.
Liverpool forward Darwin Núñez celebrates his opening goal against Newcastle United.
“We had bets all the time for 10 euros — ‘if you score more than 10 times I will pay you 10, if you don’t you have to pay me’. My pocket was full of money.
“It’s all about staying calm. When you see the potential, stay calm. It’s so difficult in the world we are living in.
“Because of you (the media) asking and making a big fuss of everything, then the supporters, social media and all these kinds of things the more you can shut off that, the better it is.”
Klopp certainly was not a doubter of his current number nine and this was a performance that showed why: electric, but with more promise still to be delivered as well, with more refinements to be made.
Núñez was just one example of a change slowly taking place within this Liverpool side, his confidence clearly having come on leaps and bounds in recent weeks. He took the goal with no doubts in his head and summed up the different among all of the Reds men.
A confident Liverpool is a Liverpool that can make up the ground to finish inside the top four this season, and a confident Núñez could be a big help in achieving that.
Anyone doubting Núñez’s ability simply has not been watching closely enough this season — the first goal here being his 16th goal contribution of the campaign to date.
The only doubts are over Núñez’s shoulder, which was causing him problems after a tackle from Kieran Trippier just before he was substituted around the hour mark.
The end of Diogo Jota’s goal drought (he last scored in April 2022) could have been the cherry on the top of the Liverpool cake, but the Portuguese missed three big chances as the clock ticked down.
Double Real Madrid boost
Just four days before facing Real Madrid at Anfield, a game away at Newcastle seemed like the last thing that Liverpool needed — especially given the must-win situation that the Reds put themselves in as they chase the top four.
Playing against 10 men for around 70 minutes, Liverpool was able to manage the game to an extent, even if Klopp would have loved them to kill it properly with a third goal.
It was not by any means easy, but certainly easier than against 11, or had they gone a goal behind. That little extra opportunity to play themselves into form was taken, with key men like Fabinho continuing to look much better, if still some way off their peak.
Jordan Henderson, too, played more like his usual self, even if he was not quite at the level of intensity that he was last Monday in the Merseyside derby.
More refreshed than they might have been but in the groove a little more as more small steps forward were taken in the right direction, it was probably as ideal as the preparation for facing the Spanish giants in the last-16 of the Champions League could have reasonably been given how difficult an away day Newcastle can be.
source: www.liverpool.com
