We asked Davey Hat-Trick to give us his match ratings and player comments after Liverpool 4 Newcastle 1.
I’m getting fed up of this. We go to Anfield, play quite well, get nothing out of the game. A tale as old as time. Just once, I’d like us to play badly and win for a change.
I wouldn’t go as far as to say Newcastle United deserved to win this match…but 4-1 is not a fair reflection of the game I watched.
We were the better team for large parts of this evening (and had Harvey Barnes’ shot cannoned in off a post, things may have turned out differently), but there were two main points of difference.
Liverpool had the players to hurt us, we didn’t have the players to hurt them. And we made a few crucial defensive errors; our hosts did not.
It was a hard watch, not least because these players put a lot into the game. As they did in Paris on Wednesday, and as I’m sure they will at Man City in four days. We are playing twice a week for the foreseeable, and I can’t see this squad coping if a high-intensity pressing game is our preferred modus operandi, and especially if all the hard work is for nothing.
We have no cover for Lewis Hall, apart from Alex Murphy who is primarily a central defender. Kieran Trippier can’t handle that sort of schedule and we are light in midfield as well as in defence. I worry that we’ll run out of steam and/or pick up more injuries. I’m amazed we didn’t at least browse the transfer market this January. Eddie Howe has got the team competing in four competitions. I think he merits better support.
Anyway, as for this game, it’s hard to mark some players. For example, Malick Thiaw was excellent for most of the game, but was caught napping for at least one of Liverpool’s goals. Likewise, Nick Pope did OK until he gifted Konate his goal…
Nick Pope 6
Played well for the most part – made some decent saves and couldn’t do a lot about Liverpool’s first three goals.
Completely culpable for their 4th though. Hope it doesn’t affect his confidence.
Kieran Trippier 6
Worked hard, decent on the ball, but it looks like his legs have gone. Outpaced a few times, including for a couple of Liverpool’s goals.
Malick Thiaw 6
Strange game for Thiaw.
Some great blocks, tackles and interceptions but he looked static for a couple of Liverpool’s goals. Has to concentrate for the whole 90 minutes.
Dan Burn 7
Did OK for the most part, in my opinion.
Got his head on everything he should but another one whose pace is lacking.
One of several Newcastle players that allowed Liverpool’s 4th to trickle over the line.
Lewis Hall 8
Our best player – arguably the sole Newcastle player that had a good night.
The usual mix of tenacious defending and skills on the ball. The scoreline wasn’t his fault.
Jacob Ramsey 6
Played OK but no more than that.
Effective in the first 30 minutes but faded after that.
Sandro Tonali 6
I’m tempted to give Sandro a five, as he looked way off the player we fell in love with.
Seems to have lost 20% of his combativeness and 30% of his confidence. Looked lost at times.
Joe Willock 7
Our best midfielder for the second game running.
Ran at the Liverpool defence in the first half and they didn’t like it. Unsurprisingly, ran out of steam in the second half and was subbed off.
Anthony Elanga 6
I don’t want to be too harsh on Elanga, as I’ve detected an improvement in his form over the last few weeks. However, he should have done much more in this game.
Kerkez seemed to have the better of him in the first half and he gave up a bit after that.
Anthony Gordon 7
I was a little downhearted to see AG leading the line while we had three strikers on the bench. But he was lively, scored a well-taken goal, and was threat when Newcastle were on top in the first 30 minutes.
But the Liverpool defence learned how to deal with him and he faded after that.
Harvey Barnes 7
Game, and came close to scoring twice.
One of the few players that didn’t run out of steam – or ideas – in the second half.
SUBS
Jacob Murphy 4
The game had gone by the time Eddie introduced his subs and it’s difficult to come into a team that has given up.
So Murphy, along with the rest of the subs, was ineffective.
Nick Woltemade 4
Some nice touches but we needed more than nice touches.
Yoane Wissa 4
No impact but that’s not all down to him.
Will Osula N/A (Not on long enough to rate)
Looked lively, but not enough time to have any effect on the game
Alex Murphy N/A (Not on long enough to rate)
Not sure what he – or Eddie – got out of this, other than a few minutes of first team experience.