Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle United: Another Late Equaliser Sums Up Liverpool's Season

 

After the disappointment of Monday night at Elland Road, falling to a late equaliser and missing an opportunity to move into fourth place, you might expect the Liverpool players to rectify that poor result and go out at Anfield and get a resounding victory against 16th place Newcastle United. With the front four of Salah, Mane, Firmino, and Jota all starting, Liverpool's intent to attack from the off was clear, but it just did not happen for the Reds, and with Chelsea travelling to West Ham later in the day the battle for top four was set to take yet another twist - unfortunately not in Liverpool's favour.

It all started so brilliantly, Newcastle's back five was breached in the first three minutes as Mane put a ball into the box, and Firmino's flick-on found Salah at the back post. A lovely swivel and a thumping strike put the ball in the back of the net and the Egyptian King became the first Liverpool player to score twenty goals or more in three separate Premier League seasons. 

After this goal, the forwards just stopped wanting to score as Liverpool had chance after chance but just could not score another goal, and this game had an eerie sense of familiarity about it midway through the first half as a Newcastle equaliser just seemed inevitable. Newcastle didn't even offer much going forward until their goal came in the 95th minute, a deflected Joe Willock shot beating Alisson after Calum Wilson had a goal disallowed for handball by VAR, but the naivety of Klopp to sit back and try and grind out the win and invite the pressure cannot be ignored. 

In the first half alone Liverpool could have had at least four goals. Sadio Mane had the freedom of the penalty area and another goal looked certain, but he instead tried to take the ball around Dubravka who collected it easily. Diogo Jota also had plenty of chances, but similar to the Leeds match he lacked the end product that we've come to expect from the Portuguese international this season. 

The second half was no different, a clear cut chance going begging every five minutes. Whether it was a shot from the edge of the area from Robertson, or Salah capitalising on a Newcastle mistake in defence but putting the shot into the side netting. Firmino offered nothing going forward, particularly after Jota was taken off midway through the second half, highlighting how Liverpool need to go out and sign a proven goalscorer in the summer, as a half-decent striker in between Salah and Mane would be hard for any defence to handle. 

The reason Liverpool were having so many chances was due to the Newcastle midfield giving acres of space for Thiago to operate deep in the pitch, receiving the ball from the defenders and finding pockets to play the ball into to try and create chances, and he was easily Liverpool's most creative player on the day which made Klopp's decision to take him off on 77 minutes for Curtis Jones who hasn't kicked a ball for six weeks very confusing. 

Whilst Thiago was running the midfield for Liverpool, the contrast between his performance and 'captain' Gini Wijnaldum was shocking. The Dutchman clearly has his mind elsewhere as his contract situation still hasn't been resolved, and every day that passes is closer to him leaving on a free transfer. He looks disinterested every time he takes to the field and hasn't hit the heights seen previously in his Liverpool career and have overall been in terrible form since January. Don't get me wrong, Wijnaldum is a Liverpool hero - he scored the goal that launched Liverpool to the Champions League in 2017, scored the crucial goal in the semi-final in Rome in 2018, and who could forget his heroics off the bench against Barcelona in 2019. It just seems like his time in a red shirt is up, and him leaving could be the catalyst for some other players whose time may be up at Liverpool.

Two players whose performances do not reflect the result and deserved more was Ozan Kabak and Fabinho at centre-half. In the absence of Nat Phillips, the Brazilian had to drop back into defence and played excellently next to Kabak who seemingly gets better every time he plays, and with the optional future fee of just £18m, it seems like a formality that he'll sign permanently in the summer. Prior to Newcastle's goal, Fabinho and Kabak had been formidable and held off the equaliser for as long as they could, and neither was at fault when the goal came. 

Ultimately, a draw is another terrible result for Liverpool and with Chelsea beating West Ham in the late kick-off, Champions League qualification looks less and less likely with every passing game. But Liverpool's lack of quality in front of goal has been an issue all season long, and it will ultimately be the reason this season will be considered an absolute failure.