Full Time: Newcastle United 1-1 Liverpool
Liverpool’s woes continued as they were held to another 1-1 draw just a few days after ending the game against with the same score line. This was a similar result too as we dominated possession but just could not do enough to get that second goal, despite having a number of quality chances.
Daniel Sturridge was started up top in place of Roberto Firmino but after a sketchy first few minutes, it was Philippe Coutinho who hammered home his third goal in three games, this time from outside the box.
The lead didn’t last for long as a simple through ball by Jonjo Shelvey set Joselu through and even with the back-tracking Joel Matip trying to tackle, the ball ricochet off the Newcastle man and rolled passed Simon Mignolet.
That was how it ended in the first half and many would have expected a domination from us, in terms of chances in the second half. Daniel Sturridge and Mohamed Salah missed guilt-edged chances in the second half while Newcastle were happy to let us have the ball and keep their defence tight.
Even bringing on the Ox, Firmino and Solanke didn’t help us and that meant we only won one of our last seven games. The draw certainly was not good enough and we now have no games for a couple of weeks until the international break is done.
Here’s how the players fared in what was another horrible evening of football for us.
Simon Mignolet – 7/10
This was one of Mignolet’s better performances and he couldn’t do much to keep Joselu out.
Alberto Moreno – 6/10
The Spaniard was caught out of position a couple of times and his final delivery was questionable on a couple of occasions. We don’t know why Klopp isn’t giving Andy Robertson a chance.
Joel Matip – 6/10
Partly at fault for the goal conceded, Matip didn’t do much wrong but this nonsensical defending from us has to stop and Matip has to take a leader’s role in all this.
Dejan Lovren – 7/10
Lovren also was at fault for the goal too but the Croatian saved us big time with a block late on in the game.
Joe Gomez – 6/10
Gomez had a decent first-half where he tried to get forward but his crosses weren’t the best. He was a little defensive in the second half but even he looks like he needs a bit of a rest.
Georginio Wijnaldum – 6/10
The former Newcastle man was all around the pitch and had one smart flick come off the post in the second half. This wasn’t the best performance by the Wijnaldum but most of the Liverpool players didn’t click in the final third.
Jordan Henderson – 7/10
The captain was one of the few players that actually had a decent game. Henderson did his bit of passing the ball around well but we needed more from him in this game.
Philippe Coutinho – 7/10
The Brazilian scored the first goal of the game and had a couple of other pops on goal which were blocked well by the Newcastle defence. Coutinho was only player who looked dangerous in attack, which is a sad indictment given that we spend so much time hyping up our attack.
Mohamed Salah – 6/10
Salah missed another chance early on and his first touch was off. The Egyptian never looked set for the game and it was a surprise that he was not taken off earlier.
Sadio Mane – 6/10
Mane was average. The Senegalese star had pace but didn’t have the incisiveness or movement to trouble the Newcastle defence enough. He looked out of sync with the other three members of the attack and seems to be reeling from the red card he picked up against Manchester City.
Daniel Sturridge – 5/10
Sturridge just could not get into the game and it all came down to a great chance in the second-half where he just had to beat the goalkeeper, only to shoot straight at him. It was not a surprise that he was taken off soon after that.
Substitutes
Roberto Firmino – 6/10
Firmino did have a couple of good touches but nothing great to trouble the Newcastle defence.
Dominic Solanke – 6/10
Solanke was one of the few players that showed passion in the game and even though he didn’t get a clear chance to score, he should be given a chance to start in place of Sturridge.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – N/A
Chambo must be wondering what he must do to see Liverpool win. He did have one great chance to head home the winner but the ball blazed high over the bar.
