Liverpool faced off against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park earlier this afternoon hoping to end their glorious Premier League campaign with a victory on the road. The Reds made a sloppy start to the game as they conceded an early goal to Dwight Gayle, who scored with a calm finish from close range. However, the Merseyside outfit managed to find a way back into the contest in the 38th minute courtesy of a well-placed header from Virgil Van Dijk.
Divock Origi gave Liverpool the lead with a powerful strike close to the hour mark. Jurgen Klopp’s men were dominant throughout the remainder of the match and made the points secure in the 89th minute when Sadio Mane scored with a fine finish. The contest ended with the Reds cruising to a 3-1 win away at Tyneside.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player had fared during the match against the Magpies.
GK: Alisson Becker – 6/10
The Brazilian couldn’t do much to stop Dwight Gayle from scoring in the first minute. He was relatively comfortable throughout the remainder of the game and did enough to restrict the opposition to just one goal.
RB: Neco Williams – 5.5/10
The Liverpool youngster was at fault for not stepping up to lay the off-side trap in the lead-up to Gayle’s goal. He was otherwise quite comfortable at right-back.
CB: Joe Gomez – 6/10
The English centre-back read the danger quickly and performed well whenever he was called into action.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 8/10
The Dutch centre-half was hardly troubled defensively and scored the all-important equaliser with a fantastic header in the first half.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 7.5/10
The Scottish full-back was full of energy when running down the left flank and has got an assist to show for his efforts.
CM: Naby Keita – 7/10
The Guinean playmaker produced some quality moments during the game and was unfortunate not to get his name on the scoresheet.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 7/10
The Dutch midfielder retained possession well in midfield and helped establish Liverpool’s dominance in the second half.
CM: James Milner – 7/10
The English midfielder worked his socks off to cover every blade of grass at the centre of the park. Klopp will be happy with his performance today.
LW: Takumi Minamino – 6/10
The Japanese international came close to scoring with a decent attempt in the first half but was denied by a diving Martin Dubravka.
ST: Divock Origi – 8/10
The Belgian striker made a real difference after the half-time break when he found the back of the net from a tight angle to give his side the lead.
RW: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7/10
The English playmaker did well to get to the byline and dig in an inviting cross for Van Dijk, who scored with a brilliant header in the first 45 minutes. It was another encouraging performance from the ex-Arsenal man.
Substitutes:
LW: Sadio Mane – 8/10
The Senegalese speedster came off the bench to score with an excellent strike.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 7/10
The Brazilian oozed class and helped set-up a couple of promising chances in the final third.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 6.5/10
The Egyptian winger hit the bar and ended up squandering a few decent chances to score.
CM: Curtis Jones – N/A
He offered some fresh legs in midfield.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – N/A
He came on to run the clock down.
