A Korner turned?
Our mini resurgence continues then, back to back victories and back to back clean sheets seemed like pipe dream a month ago but we’ve managed it and dragged ourselves back into top four contention in the process.
Having weathered an intense opening few minutes from Newcastle, the game couldn’t have started much better. Trent picked out Nunez with a nice pass and the Uruguayan made no mistake as he smashed the ball past Pope and into the net. Gakpo doubled the lead shortly after, with what must have been one of his first touches as he struggled to get involved in the build up. He made a nice run though and Salah picked him out perfectly with a first time pass that left him just the keeper to beat.
2-0 up then and things were about to get even better, as a moment of madness from Pope led to him being sent off. You’d have thought two goals and a man advantage would have meant an easy time from then on in but that wasn’t the case as a spirited Newcastle side still had a go despite their disadvantage.
Much was said about our defending during the match, in truth I thought we did ok but we really need to work on set pieces. Newcastle won the first header every single corner they got and were wasteful with their opportunities if truth be told. The fact Alisson (McMOTM) was our best player on the night tells its own story, as he made a number of good stops in one v one situations. Newcastle will be wondering how they didn’t score at least once last night and if they had, things could have gone differently.
We have to be realistic though, we’re not going to go from being as desperately poor as we were last month against the likes of Brighton and Wolves, to suddenly being at our very best overnight. It will take time to get back to our best but we’ve seen vast improvements in the last two games and are now only 6 points off top four with a game in hand.
Madrid up next then, a terrifying prospect a couple of weeks back and I’m still not particularly confident of beating them over two legs, especially with the first leg being at Anfield. It’s imperative we get something out the game on Tuesday though, if we have to go over there chasing the game, I fear the worst.
Green shoots of recovery though, is all we can ask at this stage of the season. Hopefully Nunez shoulder injury is nothing serious, as he’s just starting to find some form. The jury is still out ok Gakpo but two goals in his last two games will certainly help his confidence and the returning Jota and Bobby give us some much needed depth.
It’ll be interesting to see if Bajcetic keeps his place against Madrid, Klopp may opt for more experience in the middle of the pitch, with Milner or Keita being drafted in but the young man can be very proud of his recent efforts and it was nice to see him win his first player of the month for the club.
Things are looking up then. A couple of decent results under our belts and players returning from injury. Could we still salvage our season? We’ve given ourselves a chance at least. Walk on!
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