Liverpool commenced the year 2024 in breathtaking form on Monday night, securing a thrilling 4-2 victory over Newcastle United in the Premier League.
The atmosphere at Anfield was electric as Mohamed Salah netted twice, while Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo also found the back of the net for Jurgen Klopp’s side, further solidifying their position at the top of the league table.
This triumph propels Liverpool to a three-point lead over second-placed Aston Villa, and they currently sit five points ahead of defending champions Manchester City, who have a game in hand, and Arsenal.
For a comprehensive analysis of Liverpool’s exceptional performance, Joshua Wilkins, Managing Director at Adjust Studio, offers an insightful breakdown.
What a way to kick off 2024. Sum up Liverpool’s performance against Newcastle.
Wilkins: It was a tough game at a drenched Anfield – it bucketed it down and the game itself was bonkers. We started the game really well, pressing really high and putting Newcastle under pressure when they kept trying to pass out from the back.
Nunez and Salah were linking up nicely in the first half, and Diaz’s offside goal was unfortunate. I personally think Luis Diaz was our best player in the first half.
His dribbling was incredible for the penalty and he’s clearly riled up about it and goes on a Ronaldinho dribble of a mission to try and score. He’s taken down and there’s no argument it’s a clear penalty and I think Neville’s comments about him diving are the first of many baffling thoughts from him on commentary during the game.
Mo misses and Trent skies it over the bar. Unbelievably frustrating and you start to think it’s going to be ‘one of those’ games. Just a quick one on VAR, I found it ridiculous that VAR checked a handball from Joelinton in the box of Van Dijk but VAR didn’t think to check Odegaard’s handball against Arsenal the other week for practically playing basketball in the penalty area. No excuse for it in my opinion.
Give us some consistency, please. Then out of nowhere, Trent Alexander-Arnold goes all Robert Carlos for Brazil against France in 1997. Probably would have been the goal of the season, he’s definitely going for goal there and he’s unfortunate.
On the other side of the field Joe Gomez was tracking back nicely and getting us out of trouble on multiple occasions. He deserves a mention for another solid performance for the Reds. Thought Anthony Taylor had a poor game today.
I hate pinning things on the referee but how Joelinton isn’t booked for dragging back Szoboszlai and then multiple fouls is beyond me. Maybe the rain was covering his eyes? Second half we looked ready to go, Salah had changed his boots and Szoboszlai, Diaz, and Nunez worked together beautifully to set up Salah for a tap-in.
Nunez was excellent here and deserves a tonne of credit for it. Then Isak’s goal comes out of nowhere and again we start to think ‘it’s definitely one of those days’. We can’t keep dominating games like this without converting and then conceding the way we are.
Endo stuck a header on a plate for Nunez and he missed and it should be 2-1. Sigh. Diaz comes off and I think the whole of Anfield was baffled. He’d been arguably our best player alongside Jones. One of those substitutions, Jota, changes the game, however.
The fluidity of the ball from Salah to Jota and the silky pass to Jones from Jota is absolutely stunning and something you’d do on the latest FIFA and pat yourself on the back for pulling off. Then it’s really the Salah show. He’s running at players with swagger.
His pass to Gakpo is smart and done with arrogance, you could see his confidence was building up and that ball he plays to put us up 3-1 is from another planet.
Again we are brought back down to earth as Newcastle score from a corner and it’s squeaky bum time again. Swear they had 2 shots on goal up to this point. 3-2. Great to see Mac Allister back on the pitch.
He then plays a new year lamb roast dinner on a plate with gravy of a pass to Jota through on goal who allegedly dives? It’s a clear penalty, he hasn’t dived, there’s contact on his back leg and he goes down. It’s obscene to think that isn’t a penalty and Jota would have just slotted it in if he could have.
How long did it take the pundits to realise there’s been contact for the penalty? Yes he goes down but it’s a pen Salah then steps up and proves to everyone he should still be the penalty taker despite his earlier miss.
An outstanding performance from him and man of the match in my opinion. We’re going to miss him a lot whilst he’s away at AFCON. Up the reds.
The Reds are now top of the Premier League table with 45 points. Are Jurgen Klopp’s side title contenders?
Wilkins: We don’t look polished and perfect, but we are grinding out and winning games and that’s how you win titles. It’s gritty, it’s stressful to watch at times but we’re doing it. Klopp knows it too and the belief is there from us fans and I believe we can do it. Not many would admit at the start of the season that they thought we’d be here, but we are and you should get excited and relish that we’re in a title race.
Mohamed Salah once again showed why he’s one of the best players in the Premier League. Unfortunately, Liverpool will lose him for the 2023 AFCON as he represents Egypt. What a loss!
Wilkins: Salah is the main man, he was outstanding and I love watching him play football. He’s one of the best. What a loss indeed, I love how in his post-match interview he was saying that the team will be ok whilst he is away and anyone can play in his position.
He’s world-class and I’m not sure he even knows it at times. One of the best Liverpool players in my lifetime for sure. AFCON has come at a difficult time in the season but Salah will be back before we know it and will be driving for the title with the rest of the squad.
Darwin Nunez missed several chances despite assisting Salah for the opening goal. What do you think he needs to work on to become a prolific goalscorer?
Wilkins: Nunez had a massive chance on goal, taking out the last defender and flaps it. I think he lacks confidence in himself and you can practically see it in his body language at times. However, the link he did with Salah was a sight for sore eyes and he deserves to play in this Liverpool side.
He has moments of madness and moments of magic. Everyone will bang on about his offsides, I’m not sure if it’s his spacial awareness but it does seem like he’s on a totally different page at times.
We need to remember he’s only 24 and this is a very different side to last year so may be adjusting to new squad players. Anyway, we’re top of the league – so he must be doing something right.
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