Liverpool v Newcastle, Getty Images 01 February 2026, 00:02

The current champion of the English Premier League, Liverpool, as of the beginning of the twenty-fourth round of the national championship, was only conditionally in the championship race, trailing London Arsenal by 14 points. And with Mikel Arteta’s side having won their game at Leeds fairly comfortably earlier in this weekend’s football program (4-0), Arne Slott’s men were accordingly left with no room for error in a home game against Newcastle that could be considered central to England this round.

And the tension in the confrontation told us that the Magpies clearly did not come to Anfield for the purpose of a trip, which was especially noticeable by the game of Anthony Gordon, who, as in the first round, risked getting sent off in the first half, and then the local stands, as it was at the beginning of the season, would definitely not have come to Newcastle’s aid. But the referee, Simon Hooper, initially spared the cards for the visitors’ striker.

And then he opened the scoring in the match. At the same time, Gau’s team significantly outplayed their opponents in the attack plan in the middle of the first half, and took the lead not only with Barnes’ free-kick to the right post, but also in the counterattack at the 36th minute, which Gordon finished with a low kick from the right wing of the penalty into the far corner. But not for long. In five minutes, Wirtz assisted Ekitike with a cross from the left edge of someone else’s possession on the near post, and two minutes later, the Frenchman did everything himself when rushing to a pass from Kerkez from his own half.

And if the offensive potential of the Gau team looked quite good before the break, then in the second half of Newcastle, the guests came close to Alisson’s goal except for the shots of Barnes, who was pulled by Alisson, from the edge of the penalty area and the moment of Gordon, who missed the left post with a round shot. And that’s all about the game of the “magpies” in attack, so they could not play back under such conditions.

And Liverpool, meanwhile, simply endured a bit of a break as their opponents got carried away in attack, and were then punished twice in quick attacks. First, Tiawa’s mistake ended with a wall between Salah and Wirtz on the right wing of the free-kick, with the German’s final shot under the left post in the 67th minute. And already in stoppage time, goalkeeper Pope managed to release a corner kick from the left flank from Soboslai just to the foot of Konate in front of an empty goal. And this was clearly not the case when the Gau team fought to the last.

Liverpool: Alisson – Soboslai, Konate, van Dijk, Kerkez – Mac Allister, Gravenberch – Salah (Chiesa, 84), Wirtz (Endo, 87), Gakpo – Ekitike (Jones, 83).