What Liverpool did in devastating 12-minute spell leaves doubters with new awkward question

If the doubters needed a statement performance to finally become believers for Liverpool's Premier League title hopes, this might just have been it against Newcastle United.

After huffing and puffing to little avail in the first half, a sensational show of attacking force after the break saw the Reds eventually run out 4-2 winners here at Anfield.

The period Jurgen Klopp claimed was "the toughest in world football" has seen his team come through it with flying colours and now it's full steam ahead with so much to play for heading into 2024.

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So maybe now, even the most pessimistic of souls are starting to think that the Reds might really be able to sustain a push for the major honours in the second half of this season? They now lead the table by three points and have been beaten just once in nine months, a run which stretches to 31 matches. That is the form of champions.

A punishing nine-game stretch between December 3 and January 1 has been navigated with Klopp's men taking 17 points from a possible 21 in their seven league fixtures during that run. It's a sequence that has seen them go above Manchester City, Aston Villa and Arsenal and they will take some stopping on this evidence.

The total of 34 shots in the goalless draw with Manchester United back on December 17 was a statistic that caused plenty of debate among fans and pundits alike as what was viewed as a golden opportunity to punish a struggling rival went begging inside a new-look Anfield.

That same total of shots this time around against Eddie Howe's side was only