Having disappointed against West Brom, Liverpool looked to return to winning ways against Newcastle, attempting to reopen the gap at the top of the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp made two changes to his team, replacing the injured Joël Matip with Nathaniel Phillips at centre-back and giving Georginio Wijnaldum a rest in midfield, James Milner starting in his place. They set up in their usual 4-3-3 formation.
Steve Bruce made just one change to the team that lost to Manchester City, swapping out Miguel Almiron for Callum Wilson, as Newcastle continued in their 3-4-3 shape.
It was a very dull game. Unsurprisingly, Newcastle were primarily defensive, sitting back in a 5-4-1 shape and forcing Liverpool to break them down. When the opportunity arose, the attacking trio would press high up the pitch though, making it difficult for Liverpool to play out.
They would also commit more men forward than most of the other teams Liverpool have faced recently, with wing-backs DeAndre Yedlin and Matt Ritchie providing width down the flanks while the forwards made runs through the middle. Newcastle’s main way of attacking was to send a long ball to one of the forwards to hold up then lay off, with the recipient of the lay-off hitting it in behind for the other two forwards.
Nevertheless, the focus was still on Liverpool to break down Newcastle and they were woefully ill-equipped. Phillips has done well filling in at centre-back but this game showed why he probably won’t be seen as a long term solution. Defensively, his tendency to overcommit his body weight in challenges saw him give away clumsy fouls, but the greater issue was his lack of quality on the ball. He’s aware of it, so he rarely gives the ball away in dangerous areas, however he’s pretty much always going to choose to prod the ball – with little pace on it – into the feet of Fabinho next to him over a progressive pass into midfield.
Aware they can corner the backline if they aren’t going to risk slipping a ball between them, this draws the opposition press, but it also forces Liverpool’s players backwards to retrieve the ball. Trent Alexander-Arnold would have to come deeper for a basically horizontal pass if he was going to get the ball, removing the attacking width he provides from the right side, while both Jordan Henderson and Milner would drop into the backline. Neither man dropping into the backline is out of the ordinary, but it’s typically to add an extra man to play around the press or spread the centre-backs across the pitch; here it was just so Fabinho wasn’t alone in trying to play out.
This isn’t usually such a problem, but against Newcastle Liverpool couldn’t really afford the dead weight. Milner didn’t do anything wrong, and with Wijnaldum likely needing a rest, Naby Keïta out with an injury and Thiago Alcântara recovering from one, there wasn’t much alternative, but he was an awful choice for this game. He can pick out a cross but he lacks the ability to slide a ball through midfield needed to break down a crowded defence like Newcastle’s.
Likewise Henderson has improved this aspect of his game recently, but he’s still not a natural fit for the job either. Liverpool were already playing a midfield not built to break down a packed defence then having to get that midfield to drop back within a few metres of their defender just so he would feel comfortable enough to pass them the ball.
With this slow progression, Liverpool were generally struggling to carve anything out. Sadio Mané frequently picked up the ball in pockets of space but immediately got squeezed out by the ranks of Newcastle defenders.
Some of their best opportunities came on the counter, when Newcastle had finally left them some space, only to waste these chances with a poor touch.
Klopp’s first change seemed bizarre, substituting Curtis Jones for Wijnaldum. Needing to break down a packed defence, the Milner-Henderson-Wijnaldum midfield where creativity goes to die was the absolute worst choice he could have made from his available options, short of repurposing Caoimhin Kelleher and the Williamses as midfielders. Thankfully, he didn’t: Wijnaldum was introduced as an attacking midfielder on the right, as Liverpool shifted to a 4-2-3-1.
This changed little though and minutes later the switch everyone really wanted was made. Klopp was understandably reluctant to rush Thiago back after his injury, but he was exactly what Liverpool had been crying out for all match: the Spaniard would pick up the ball in deep positions and play a perfect pass forward.
Xherdan Shaqiri had proved his usefulness in a similar situation against West Ham, yet he wasn’t called upon until injury time, giving him no time to influence the game. Like Thiago, he’s recovering from an injury so it’s understandable his playing time might be limited, but he could have surely played longer than three minutes when Liverpool were in desperate need of someone with his eye for a through ball.
The way Liverpool slowly passed the ball near the half-way line as the clock ticked down rather than pushing forward for a goal neatly summarised their turgid performance.
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