In form, Liverpool welcomed struggling Newcastle United to Anfield for matchday 17 Premier League fixture. The Reds needed to win to keep in touch at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, Magpies needed something from the game in order to attempt to get out of the relegation battle at the bottom of the table.
In an attempt to get out of the relegation zone, the visitors took a surprising lead at Anfield. Former Liverpool man Jonjo Shelvey scored a superb long-range goal to bring a twist early on in the game.
The home crowd couldn’t believe what they saw and Klopp too had a disbelieving smile.
But, Liverpool responded superbly with some good offensive play and finally opened the scoring through Diogo Jota in the 21st minute.
And four minutes later, Salah made it 2-1 after Shelvey gifts the ball straight to Mane. Mane’s effort was denied by Dubravka. However, the rebound falls kindly for Salah, who smashes a left-footed strike into the bottom-right corner.
In the first 45 minutes, Liverpool were clinical offensively but there were few occasions of defensive lapses.
Meanwhile, in the second half, The Reds had many occasions of scoring third with Salah missing a couple of them by a whisker, which rarely happens.
And in the 87th minute, Trent Alexander Arnold scored a screamer to wrap up things. The Scouser made sure Liverpool’s 2000th top-flight win for the famous Red club.
Meanwhile, Liverpool received a worrying update right before the start of the game. Three players were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19, including regulars Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho.
But nevertheless, the Reds dominated the game as Liverpool keeps on scoring and they keep on winning.
Key numbers from the game
Liverpool have added another record, the Reds have now scored in each of their last 32 games in all competitions. It’s their longest ever run in the club’s history.
Liverpool winger Mohamed Salah equalled Jamie Vardy’s record of either scoring or assisting a goal in 15 consecutive Premier League appearances.
Also, the Egyptian became the first Liverpool player to score in five successive home league games against Newcastle.
Newcastle have recorded another winless record, the club is now winless in their last 26 Premier League away games against Liverpool. It’s the Magpies’ second-longest ever winless away run against an opponent in their league history.
Liverpool vs Newcastle United: Post match reactions
Klopp speaks on Liverpool “putting a lot in” to get the three points
No problem with that, that’s the Premier League. The opponent is obviously fighting for staying in the league, put everything in, threw everything on the pitch, had a very defensive organisation, went 1-0 up – so this is the recipe for a difficult game. But we still won it – absolutely deserved and that’s it pretty much.
Klopp’s reaction on how nice it was to watch Alexander-Arnold’s goal
Absolutely. I thought it was the best long ball we played today! Absolutely crazy goal. His shooting technique is really different level and really cool to watch. In a situation like that, having the positivity and optimism to do it is, again, the basis for these kind of goals. So, well done.
When asked about Fabinho, Curtis Jones, and Virgil Van Dijk missing the game after registering suspected positive tests for Covid19 and whether the club have ‘contained it’ heading into the weekend.
We hope, we hope. Yeah, the situation is difficult for us, for the whole world, that’s how it is. We pretty much woke up this morning and had three positive cases.
This virus is now around us so long that it’s not really likely that it will stay at three, [but] the boys don’t have a lot of spare time to go where they could pick it. All of them are vaccinated – they had already the booster – and it still can happen, that’s just how it is.
So far, they don’t have any symptoms – they were more surprised than us that they had it but that’s what you have to accept and that’s what we do. Hopefully, they are quickly back again.
Klopp’s take on whether Liverpool’s first goal should have stood
I didn’t see it back it yet. I pretty much gave interviews [since the game finished]. I had the question already in pretty much each interview, but I had no time to watch it back, so I don’t know. I saw a player down – I think when we scored the goal there was only one player down, if I am right – I spoke to the linesman on our side and he said it was all fine, just two players bounced into each other.
What’s next for Liverpool?
Liverpool next plays Tottenham in an away fixture at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this weekend. But it will be intriguing to see whether the game will take place.
Spurs’ previous three games in all competitions have been called off due to the Covid19 outbreak.
