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| Jurgen Klopp sprung a surprise in attack |
Klopp opted to start without Roberto Firmino, who had played
in Brazil’s defeat to Peru on Wednesday. The German likely also had Tuesday’s
trip to Napoli in mind, but with Liverpool and Manchester City having already
broken clear of the rest of the pack it is apparent that every point will count
in the league.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, making his second start of the
season, was duly tasked with using his midfield base to provide some of the
penetration usually offered by the Brazilian. This was noticeably lacking in
the opening exchanges, however, and with just eight minutes on the clock Jetro
Wilems exploded past a lacklustre Liverpool defence and fired beyond Adrian.
Liverpool’s immediate response was a good spell of
possession, but they were always expected to see the lion’s share of the ball
against a Newcastle team largely content to sit deep. Steve Bruce’s men limited
the European champions to half-chances for the next fifteen minutes, with Salah
and Mane largely anonymous despite repeatedly switching positions in an attempt
to unsettle the back line.
With 23 minutes on the clock Origi was presented with a
reasonable chance to equalise, but could not connect properly with his header.
Another aerial dual caused controversy moments later, when Jamaal Lascelles
looked for all the world to have dragged Joel Matip down by the neck, but Andre
Marriner waved away the protests.
Sadio Mane then produced the perfect response to this
setback, making devastating use of his first real opportunity. He received Robertson’s
pass before curling the ball delightfully into the top right corner to level
things up.
This sparked the Liverpool team into life. The passes and
movement came with renewed pace and fluidity, and Newcastle’s back line were
caused particular problems by the marauding runs of the full-backs. This
momentum could have been arrested when Divock Origi was forced off through
injury with ten minutes left to play in the half, but Firmino immediately got
to grips with the pace of the game following his shorter-than-expected break.
He played a delightfully-weighted pass into the path of
Sadio Mane with his first real involvement since his introduction, and the
Senegalese doubled his tally after nicking in ahead of a sluggish Martin
Dubravka. Liverpool went in with the lead at half time.
Newcastle again unsettled the hosts at the start of the
second period, but this time Klopp’s men regained control more quickly. Gini
Wijnaldum went close to an exceptional goal against his former team,
controlling Robertson’s pass and unleashing a looping volley that went just
over.
The game then quietened down for a time, although Firmino
continued to look very lively. Only a good save from Dubravka prevented Andy
Robertson from converting a clever chipped pass from the Brazilian on 62
minutes; he tried a shot himself shortly afterwards, but the Slovakian stopper
again saved with his legs.
Firmino eventually got his second assist with twenty minutes
to play, doing so in sublime style. His disguised flick into the path of Mohamed
Salah was inspired, and the forward did not need a second invitation. He placed
it firmly beyond Dubravka, putting the game to bed.
The closing stages were something of a procession as a
result, although Liverpool did have a fourth chalked off after Firmino was
caught narrowly offside before he squared it to Mane. Xherdan Shaqiri came on
for the final ten minutes: the lesser-spotted Swiss attacker sacrificed
international duty in order to focus on his club commitments over the
international break, and will be hopeful of putting some pressure on the
regular starters as the fixture congestion increases.
The busy winter schedule will certainly test Liverpool, who
perhaps fall down in depth when compared to City, but for the time-being there
can be no complaints at all with the 100% record from the first five games.
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