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Following Southampton’s 6-1 thrashing by Liverpool in the Capital One Cup, the pressure was clearly on Newcastle United going into this fixture.
With Liverpool starting off the match 6th in the league table and Newcastle in 19th, no doubt on who the underdogs were. However, as it’s usually natural for Liverpool to put up bad performances against teams when least expected, the combination of their poor performance along with a solid performance by The Toon resulted in Newcastle’s 2-0 victory and Jurgen Klopp’s second loss as Liverpool’s manager- his first away loss.
With one of Newcastle’s goals coming from Liverpool’s defender Martin Skrtel, the other was a beautiful finish by Georginio Wijnaldum which sealed Newcastle’s victory on the night.
Newcastle United
Rob Elliot- 7
Considering Newcastle's recent plight, 3 clean sheets in 7 games is an excellent return from Rob Elliot. He was the canny keeper Newcastle needed today. He was rarely bothered but his distribution was inconsistent.
Daryl Janmaat- 8
A real driving force at right-back. He helped in putting great pressure on Liverpool starting with a great sliding challenge which Milner looked to clear. He stood out initially and was quite impressive overall.
Chancel Mbemba- 7Mbemba is the best defensive purchase Newcastle have made for some time. He almost opened Newcastle’s account during the last few minutes of the first half with a header that went over.
Fabricio Coloccini- 6To say the least, he had a very lucky match. He deserved to be off at one point for his two-footed lunge on Ibe that didn’t even get him a yellow. However, he decided to show up and make his presence be felt.
Paul Dummett- 7.5Another very impressive Newcastle player. He worked hard and was quite brilliant. If anything else, he confirmed that he will end up as a centre-half and that he loves to tackle. He did very well defensively against Jordon Ibe.
Moussa Sissoko- 7.5 A poor in the first half but had a turn around in the second. Very energetic and Sissoko was instrumental in the build-up to both goals, particularly in the second when he did superbly well to break away and feed the ball to Wijnaldum who finished it brilliantly. Well played but just needs to become a consistent performer.
Vernon Anita- 8Much deserved Man of the Match. Anita's performance cannot have gone unnoticed. He ran his socks off and was excellent. Despite all the criticism he’s been under lately, his energy was commendable. However, he was booked after a challenge on Joe Allen.
Jack Colback- 6Colback received a yellow card for a late challenge on Roberto Firmino. Did not have much of an impact throughout the match. Was replaced by Gouffran in the 76th minute.
Georginio Wjnaldum- 8Newcastle’s first goal may not have been credited to him, but the second definitely was. The second goal was due to a brilliant move and a top-class finish by Wijnaldum. An absolute quality player. He forced the first own goal and scored the second – leading his team to 3 points.
Siem de Jong- 7Siem de Jong added calmness, experience and some leadership to the team. He played decently as well. He was impressive with his link-up and one touch play. However, he needs time. It was visible that he was stringing things together here & there, subtly, but that he's still rusty.
Papiss Cisse- 7Cisse’s work rate was exceptional. He set the tone for the team. He was another player to have run his socks off. He closed Liverpool down and give them little time on the ball. He was replaced by Thauvin in the 81st minute.
Substitutes:
Ayoze Perez - 6Came on for De Jong in the 67th minute. He was isolated at the best of times but did alright when was asked to defend. Can be called ‘a quiet appearance’. However, the surprising part was Perez possibly being Newcastle’s best player started on the bench.
Yoan Gouffran - 5Came on for Colback in the 77th minute. Didn’t have much of an impact.
Florian Thauvin- 5Came on for Cisse in the 81st minute. Didn’t have much of an impact either.
Liverpool
Simon Mignolet- 6
Mignolet had a few of his usual clumsy moments with the ball, but he could have done nothing about the goals. Nor did he handle it well when Liverpool’s defence was under pressure.
Nathaniel Clyne- 6
Clyne started off well and was solid throughout but got poor in the latter stages of the match. He was defensively strong and broke forward well to support counter attacks.
Martin Skrtel- 5
Initially seemed like one of the few ones with intent, but unfortunately, scored for the wrong team for Newcastle's opener. Not one of his best defensive performances as well.
Dejan Lovren- 7.5
Lovren did a pretty decent job. He was Liverpool’s best defender and was quick to decide when to move up to break attacks and was quite calm. His distribution wasn't great and he looked nervy at times, and overall didn’t have a great game but was the best among the defence.
Alberto Moreno- 5
Moreno has no real impact in the attacking third, which was a shame. He worsened things with poor defending leading up to Newcastle's second goal. However, he did score a good goal that was disallowed for offside- which was an awful call by the linesman.
Lucas- 5
Although he’s been superb all season, he had an awful performance this game. He looked short of energy throughout the match and was quite erroneous with possession. He also picked up a deserved booking for a foul on De Jong.
Joe Allen- 5
Allen played the link between the defence and attack once again but lacking the physicality of the suspended Emre Can, Allen ended up with quite a poor performance.
James Milner- 5
Another cagey performance as the Liverpool captain. He was sloppy on and off the ball and quite horrible at taking corners. However, with the introduction of Lallana and Sturridge and his change of position into centre-midfield, he improved slightly.
Roberto Firmino- 5
Firmino lacked intent throughout the match. He had some nice touches but they were not enough. He couldn’t support Benteke either. He was replaced by Daniel Sturridge after 60 minutes.
Jordon Ibe- 7
Ibe was Liverpool’s best starting player. He raced into the box on numerous occasions but to no avail. He seemed to be the only one switched on. He’s good at running at the defence but just needs to work on his final pass.
Christian Benteke- 5
Another striker lacking intent. He did not offer any kind of threat to Newcastle. He also had the best chance of scoring in the first half of the match which he missed. Typical Benteke – misses the easy chances and scores the worldies. This match showed how Firmino and Benteke don’t really work.
Substitutes:
Adam Lallana- 8.5
Lallana came on for Benteke in the 62nd minute. Although he just played the last 30 minutes of the match, he was Liverpool’s best player. He created a chance for Sturridge with a great pass which the latter missed and was the only player to threaten. He instantly made a difference; deserved to start.
Daniel Sturridge- 6
Sturridge came on for Firmino in the 62nd minute as part of a double substitution. He missed a good chance to equalise from a delightful pass from Lallana. Not great, but definitely more dangerous than Benteke.
Divock Origi- 6
Origi came on for Ibe in the 75th minute. There were expectations on him to perform post his hat-trick against Southampton and although he showed some nice touches and looked to equalise, he didn’t have enough time to get into the game.
