Chris Sutton has been rather complimentary about the way that some of Liverpool’s players performed during their 3-2 win against Newcastle on Monday evening.
The Premier League clash was held at St James’ Park, and although Eddie Howe’s men were playing with 10 players for the vast majority of the game, it was a fairly end-to-end affair.
In reality, the Magpies deserved to win the game with both Bruno Guimaraes and William Osula’s goals among the best of the night.
Arne Slot looks on from the bench during Liverpool's Premier League match against Bournemouth at Anfield.
Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images
However, due to the sheer determination of Arne Slot’s first-team squad, it was Liverpool who added yet another three points to their Premier League tally.
Chris Sutton lauds ‘superb’ Dominik Szoboszlai for his part in Rio Ngumoha’s goal
The highlight of the night for Liverpool and neutral fans will have no doubt been 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha bagging a goal on his Premier League debut.
Ngumoha starred in the Reds’ pre-season games, and although rumours of Bradley Barcola and Malick Fofana making the Anfield switch were around at the start of the summer, those talks seem to have died down.
However, without Dominik Szoboszlai’s dummy to allow the ball to get to the feet of Ngumoha, the youngster wouldn’t have had his chance to prove his worth.
These were the exact thoughts of Chris Sutton, who, while live on Sky Sports, dubbed Szoboszlai’s role in the goal “superb.”
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“Superb from Szoboszlai, the awareness just to leave it to his teammate and the finish is devastating,” he said.
“It’s just about not panicking, this team have got lucky tonight, Arne Slot’s team, but they’ve found a way.”
Liverpool must get their act together when they face Arsenal on Sunday
Although Liverpool may be third in the Premier League table after two games, Arsenal find themselves at the top, just above second-placed Tottenham.
And, even though Bukayo Saka is set to miss out on their Premier League clash due to injury, players such as Viktor Gyokeres seem to be finding their form.
Mikel Arteta has spent a hefty chunk of change on improving Arsenal’s ranks this summer, and even though Liverpool have done the same, they’ve at least sold some members of their first-team squad to end up with a better net spend than the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta with his head in his hands during Arsenal's game against Tottenham.
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Despite all this, if Slot can’t get his defensive line in order and manage to get players such as Milos Kerkez and Ibrahima Konate out of their current ruts, they may as well hand over the three points to Arsenal.
If Arsenal do win, by the end of the 2025-26 campaign, it could end up meaning an awful lot, especially with the way things have panned out over the last few years.