Thirteen may be unlucky for some but surely not even misfortune can stop Liverpool now. As Arsenal stumbled, the leaders took another sizeable step towards the title. Thirteen points clear of their closest challengers after Newcastle’s annual defeat at Anfield, it is a question of when, not if.
“I don’t think that way,” said Arne Slot, but the Kop does. A chorus of “Liverpool, top of the league,” followed the confirmation Arsenal had been held by Nottingham Forest, leading to another of “We’re going to win the league.” That looks a formality. It is already a mathematical certainty that Liverpool will finish above Manchester United.
And when they are crowned champions, they can thank Jurgen Klopp and Jorg Schmadtke for their work in the summer of 2023. This was a win shaped by that transfer window, by the inspired rebuild of the heart of the team. “I think if you wear the Liverpool shirt as a midfielder you should score goals,” said Slot. And, as he did against Manchester City on Sunday, Dominik Szoboszlai did. Alexis Mac Allister, whose sense of occasion meant he found the net against Real Madrid and in a Merseyside derby, added a second. “They showed up,” added Slot.
Liverpool didn’t have a Mohamed Salah goal even if, for the 17th time this season, the Egyptian registered an assist. Newcastle didn’t have Alexander Isak at all. Liverpool’s supporting cast instead supplied the finishing touch and, on a night when Newcastle had no shot on target, Slot’s side scored at least twice for the 18th consecutive game at Anfield.
The Dutchman saw it from on high, rising from the posh seats of the directors’ box to punch the air when Mac Allister put the outcome beyond doubt. He began a two-match touchline ban. His red card at Goodison Park can be added to the list of things that, it transpires, will not derail Liverpool’s title charge.
They have shown a calmness under pressure in the last few days, a resolve and a work ethic. “If you get a lot of compliments eight out of 10 people get complacent and we saw the mentality of the two against 10 tonight,” said Slot. “We weren’t perfect but the mentality was great again.” His side were also clinical. They scored from their first two shots on target at the Etihad Stadium. They repeated that feat on home turf.
Their 100th goal of the season was a second in four days for the in-form Szoboszlai, guided between Dan Burn’s legs, after Luis Diaz’s cutback. In September, Slot said Szoboszlai’s numbers needed to go up. The criticism was that, for a No 10 at a club like Liverpool, the Hungarian did not score enough; now he has four goals in eight games. “I am very pleased for a player as humble as him, especially for the unbelievable work he does,” said Slot. “Probably he gets the credit now even more for the people who are judging players not only on work rate but also goals.” Szoboszlai almost had another, curling a shot just past the post.
But as, for the first time in nine games, Salah failed to score, there were still moments when he was irresistible. There was a delectable, outside-of-the-boot cross when a sliding Diaz almost added a third. Meanwhile, Jacob Murphy was booked for tugging Salah back; but only after the Egyptian, desperate to continue a solo run, had escaped his first attempts to drag him down. Deservedly, Salah still made a goal. In a one-two, he returned the ball to Mac Allister, whose rising shot flew past Nick Pope. If the goalkeeper perhaps could have done better for the opener, he was blameless for the second. Eddie Howe was more disappointed with his outfield players. “What I don’t understand was the two goals,” the Newcastle manager said. “We should never concede from those situations. We have enough bodies back. We just don’t mark the men.”
Meanwhile, the Newcastle man opponents need most to mark was missing, a slight groin problem sidelining Isak. It may not escape attention that this week Liverpool have faced City without Erling Haaland and Newcastle without the Swede, arguably the division’s two top strikers. Yet they have scarcely needed such things to go in their favour.
Newcastle, though, might note that Isak had scored on both of his previous visits to Anfield. As Callum Wilson made his belated first league start of the season, he perhaps should have struck when racing on to a ball Dan Burn hooked forward, instead missing the target. In a game of transitions, with Wilson playing on the shoulder of the last defender, Newcastle had a threat on the break. “There were some really dangerous counter-attack moments,” said Howe. Yet Alisson was untested; that may have been different with a fit Isak.
“It goes without saying how important he is,” said Howe. He got the bad news eight hours before kick-off. “It was a late decision, around midday. He didn’t feel right in his groin. It meant a tactical decision.” A reshuffle followed, Howe going to 4-4-1-1, feeling Wilson needed company in attack, moving Anthony Gordon centrally. Yet that might have cost them some incision on the flanks.
And this may have boded badly for one of the biggest games Newcastle have had for decades. Howe argued he did not attempt to deceive Slot ahead of the Carabao Cup final. “It was all about trying to win this game, there was no withholding of cards,” he said. A dress rehearsal had a familiar ending. Newcastle are winless in 29 trips to Anfield, while Howe has one point from a possible 24 against them during his time in charge. It came earlier this season. But the two Liverpool dropped in the 3-3 draw on Tyneside in December now instead looks a point they gained. One of the extra 13.
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