Liverpool back to their best, Mac Allister needs to seize chance as Newcastle duo need to relax – what we learned at Anfield
Manchester City might have been feeling good about themselves while watching Liverpool and Arsenal over Christmas, but that may have now changed.
Their long-time Premier League title rivals — the ones from Merseyside — put in arguably a season-best performance against Newcastle for a 4-2 win.
In reality, it could have very easily been a demolition job on the scoresheet, with the Reds racking up the highest expected goals figure on record 7.53, to the Magpies 0.70.
On top of that they had the highest number of shots in a first half of any league game this season, and finished the game with a whopping 34 to Newcastle’s five.
Their opponents, meanwhile, made it four defeats on the bounce, while their alarming total of injuries reached an eye-watering 11.
The game could mark a turning point for both teams, however, there was plenty more context on offer for us to learn from…
The time that every Liverpool fan has been dreading has finally come, with Mohamed Salah jetting off for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
The Egyptian talisman was at his best even with a penalty miss, going on to register two goals and an assist in the win, and looking unplayable at times with an extraordinary range of passing.
His loss will be huge, and while he’s borderline irreplaceable, they have someone who can at least try.
With Darwin Nunez again misfiring and Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo not at their best, Diogo Jota is back looking like his old self that stunned on arrival from Wolves.
The Portuguese forward has returned from a month off with a goal and an assist in two games, and in his cameos he’s shown the kind of instinctual finishing and dynamic forward play that only Salah possesses on current form.
The 27-year-old hasn’t played 90 minutes
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