BOBBY TAIT – @BobbaTee
Tonight at Anfield, Liverpool faced Newcastle in the latest scheduled match of the day. A day where more players are isolating with covid and even more games being called off. But thankfully tonight’s game went ahead as The Reds fronted a team that featured a fresh from injury Bobby Firmino on the bench and saw Ibrahima Konate get his fifth premier league appearance.
Liverpool went on to win 3-1 after a shocking clearance from Thiago left Jonjo Shelvey on for a pearler after just 7 minutes. But a controversial goal from Jota, a return favour from Shelvey, and a thunder rocket from our no. 66 ensured the red men a another premier league victory and a lovely three points to close the gap to just one behind city, and leaves us three above Chelsea.
Here are tonight’s player ratings:
Allison – 7
Produces a great save as Saint-Maximin strides through after the equaliser and he was seen to be constantly commanding his area. Couldn’t do much about the opener as his view was restricted and the ball was just too fast. Overall a solid day even though there was no chance of a clean sheet early on. He’s also a bit scary when you don’t do what says, isn’t he?
Trent – 9 – MOTM
You can tell he’s the scouser in the team can’t you?
Playing rings around Newcastle’s midfield with Hendo and Mo, and a pin point precision tackle to deny Fraser from equalising. An absolute rocket after a dummy run from Mike Dean secured the three points for the reds tonight. It almost brings a tear Tom your eye. Another quality display from the best right back in the world tonight.
Matip – 8
Shots on target. Blocking shots. Feeding the front line, galloping in chase. He does everything and we love him for it. Constantly proving his abilities and naturally took the lead in defence in the absence of Van Dijk. Best free transfer in football history.
Konate – 7
Looked a bit shakey to begin with especially after the first goal, but redeemed himself with a few first half blocks and a comfortable second half performance. An aerial threat from dead balls and was well disciplined in positioning. A promising performance from the young frenchman.
Robertson – 7
Made himself a target up front as much as he delivered from the wing. Sometimes hesitant to push on and believe he can get the goal himself but that trademark left wing completed by Mane was nothing but a nightmare for Newcastle tonight, who often opted to just call for a foul or hit it out of play just to get their breath.
Henderson – 8
A great captains performance from Hendo tonight. He was involved with every play, always barking orders, clearing up loose balls and sending it forward. Picks up a yellow from being a bit over zealous but remains a 3 points performance.
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Thiago – 6
After being responsible for the goal Thiago tried his best to redeem himself but often came up short. His flair and ability shone through in his movement and awareness and did reasonably well in the second half however something just wasn’t clicking tonight for someone who seem to just be finding his form and was eventually subbed for James Milner. Hopefully he’s just still getting used to our shit weather.
Ox – 7
Solid performance in the middle tonight from the Ox. got stuck in the mud for the goal but was still an integral part in making our midfield tick. Another player who’s a joy to watch on his day. Seemed to run out of steam in the second half despite his hunger being apparent which gets him subbed for Keita. Great ball into Salah for a near goal from the inside of his boot on the volley in the first half though, that would have been a filthy goal.
Mane – 8
The man never gives up does he? A few close chances in the first half, one of which lead to Mo getting his customary premier league goal. Mane was a vital source of pace when needed in the second half demonstrating why we needed him on the pitch to see out the game.
Probably relieved at Mo being subbed off for a change.
Jota – 8
He kicks the door down. He asks questions. He doesn’t care if your injured. He scores the goal and then he runs off. The personification of a world class FIFA player. Bringing us the equaliser and using his strength and speed to keep a feisty Newcastle at bay.
Salah – 8
Proved his own mortality tonight and maybe not everything he touches turns to goals but quite a lot of them do. His theme of the evening was the trivella pass and seemingly wanting to take up the whole of Soccer AMs showboat segment. The Egyptian king strikes again and brings home three points.
Subs
Firmino – 7
Finding his feet after being granted 20 minute spell tonight, he wasn’t ever gonna be back to the Bobby we all know and love but it was promising to see him have a run out and will hopefully be firing on all cylinders soon. He still manages to get his name on the sheet with an assist but overall was a steady performance from the recovering Brazilian.
Keita – 7
Was the injection of pace needed and was the best swap to help keep up the speed and precision that was missing from ox in the second half. This could be the reason we kept Newcastle at bay tonight and shows just how good we are on the toughest of nights.
Milner – n/a
Came on for a nice cameo and again help the team drag it over the line.
BOBBY TAIT – @BobbaTee
