Rafa Benitez tasted his first defeat as a manager at Anfield in the opposition dugout as Newcastle United fell to a 2-0 loss to Liverpool on Saturday. The Reds marched their way to their 300th league victory at Anfield as goals from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane were enough to see off the Magpies.
Benitez’s men were content to sit back and soak up the pressure but Liverpool had enough in their attack to steal all three points and leave the visitors excruciatingly close to the drop zone. Here are the player ratings for Newcastle United in this game.
Newcastle United Players Rated And Slated:
Martin Dubravka (6):
Made a couple of decent saves but had no answer to either goal.
DeAndre Yedlin (6):
Showed pace and guile to get the better of Robertson on a couple of occasions but failed to find any end product to trouble Liverpool.
Florian Lejeune (7):
Threw himself about and made a couple of last-ditch tackles as he managed to keep the Liverpool attack in check and keep them down to just two goals.
Jamaal Lascelles (5):
Was lucky not to concede a penalty late in the game and was also second best to most balls against the likes of Firmino and Salah.
Paul Dummett (5):
Stuck to his task defensively but failed to keep Salah in check, who often drifted inside and found space inside the box.
Kenedy (6):
Showed good energy to get into Liverpool territory on a number of occasions but did very little with space, leaving his attack isolated.
Christian Atsu (5):
Gave decent cover for his full-back on the flank but had very little influence in the attack.
Mohamed Diame (7):
Probably Newcastle United’s best player on the night as he beat Liverpool’s press on a few occasions and also came the closest to scoring, in the first half.
Mikel Merino (4):
Was in the side to add some creativity to the midfield but failed to find any of his attackers and was a mere passenger for most of the night.
Jacob Murphy (5):
Like Atsu had very few chances to run at the Liverpool backline but did well to provide some support for Kenedy at the back.
Dwight Gayle (4):
Had very little services to influence the game in any way.
Substitutes:
Joselu (4):
Came on to replace Gayle and add a presence in the box but hardly even got on to the ball to trouble the hosts.
Isaac Hayden (5):
A couple of decent touches to keep the ball rolling late in the game.
Ayoze Perez (N/A)
