There was relief for Liverpool supporters when they and most of the other clubs involved pulled out of the plans for a European Super League, however there has been little respite for Liverpool this season as they chase a Champions League spot.
Jürgen Klopp made one change to the team that drew with Leeds, swapping out James Milner for Mohamed Salah as they switched from their usual 4-3-3 formation to a 4-4-2.
Steve Bruce continued with the same team that beat West Ham, set up in a 3-4-3 formation.
Newcastle started the match deep in a 5-4-1 shape. This left them well-covered defensively: the back five gave them the defensive width to get out to Liverpool in the wide areas, while they also kept compact in the centre to stop Liverpool playing through, with Allan Saint-Maximin picking up Thiago Alcântara.
It wasn’t enough to stop Liverpool taking the lead after just three minutes though. Sadio Mané crossed in from the left and Ciaran Clark headed it on, however Salah picked up the ball at the back post, span and fired the ball into the net.
Sitting back to soak up pressure was no longer good enough now that Liverpool didn’t need a goal, so Newcastle began to press in Liverpool’s half, with Sean Longstaff frequently pushing forward to pick up Georginio Wijnaldum in an attempt to disrupt Liverpool’s build-up.
More often than not though, Liverpool were keeping hold of the ball and forcing Newcastle deep into their own half.
Part way through the half, Thiago and Wijnaldum switched sides. Saint-Maximin stayed where he was, picking up Wijnaldum, which meant Thiago had more space to receive the ball and pick out passes.
Despite Newcastle’s compact defence, Liverpool had the quality on the ball to work the ball into attack with little combinations, although they kept fluffing their lines whenever it was time to finish the move.
In spite of having basically no control in the first half, Newcastle did manage to carve out a few chances. Saint-Maximin looked good on the counter but found himself outnumbered, however Liverpool’s backline was poorly organised enough to occasionally simply hand Newcastle opportunities.
Newcastle set up in a high block in the second half yet they rarely actually pressed Liverpool’s backline, so did little to win the ball back high up the pitch.
Their wingers weren’t getting dragged as deep though, giving them some presence in attack, which was bolstered by bringing on Callum Wilson for Joelinton and switching to a 3-5-2, having another man in attack to fight for long balls. This was the first of several attacking changes by Bruce: his second was to swap Clark for Joe Willock, moving Jonjo Shelvey back to centre-back where he would see a lot of the ball to use his passing range, then, late on, Bruce added another striker, Dwight Gayle, for Miguel Almiron as they searched for a goal.
Much as they had against Leeds, Liverpool appeared affected by fatigue in the second half. Rather than adding to the width of Liverpool’s midfield defensively, Liverpool’s wingers would be pulled forward to press, leaving Liverpool in a 4-2-4 shape, and in the second half they were often very slow to track back.
Trent Alexander-Arnold tucked into midfield throughout the game when Liverpool had possession, helping to strengthen this area in case they lost the ball, but on 58 minutes Klopp reverted back to the usual 4-3-3, bringing on Milner for Diogo Jota. Alexander-Arnold tucking in meant Salah would typically stay wide to maintain width, away from the central attacking areas where he is most dangerous.
Even with these issues though, Liverpool were in complete control of the match, and should have been able to see it out, yet were unable to do so. With the three attackers all making runs, Wilson beat Liverpool’s defenders in a foot race only to see his goal ruled out due to nonsense handball rules. Newcastle still managed to get their equaliser though, thumping a long ball forward towards Andy Robertson, who they had stationed three players around. Gayle won the header against the surrounded Scot, knocking it down for Willock, whose shot deflected off of Fabinho, sending it in the opposite direction to where Alisson Becker was diving.
Liverpool weren’t at the top of their game, yet they controlled possession, created plenty of chances and kept Newcastle’s to a minimum, however still came away with only a point. “In these games we have had chances like madness and we didn’t use them. Who is to blame for that apart from us? Nobody,” said Klopp after the match. “If you deserve it, you deserve it. I didn’t see us today playing like we deserve Champions League next year. We have another five games and we will see. We learn or we don’t play Champions League, that’s it”.
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