It was far from an electric opening from Liverpool at St. James’ Park on Wednesday evening.
The Merseysiders, admittedly, weren’t helped in the slightest by a card-happy Andy Madley, though they can be far from unhappy with how the scoreline stood going into half-time.
Alexander Isak’s goal separated the Premier League outfits following a dominant display from the hosts in the North East.
With the quality of performances from Newcastle’s key stars falling under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, this will have been a first 45 that will have immensely pleased Eddie Howe.
Less so Liverpool’s travelling supporters who were forced to witness a hapless Liverpool first half far removed from the highs of consecutive victories against Real Madrid and Manchester City.
At the very least, there was some comic relief to enjoy in the opening half as a threatening Gordon bore down on goal only to be met with the immovable object that is Caoimhin Kelleher.
It wasn’t over for the former reported summer transfer target, however, who found himself absolutely cleared out by Virgil van Dijk as the Dutchman returned to the scene.
In fairness to the skipper, it wasn’t exactly a massive shoulder barge, so it’s fair to imagine the Englishman was looking for some punishment for his challenger.
"Gordon should've given him no chance at all!"
Big save from Caoimhin Kelleher!#PLonPrime #NEWLIV pic.twitter.com/NoP2uyxH8s
— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) December 4, 2024
Arne Slot can have no complaints over what he’s seen from his Liverpool forwards this season – particularly on the left flank.
Both Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo have hit double figures this season despite sharing the same space on the pitch. A particularly impressive reality for our Dutch attacker given he’s been mainly handed cameo appearances this term.
That’s not to suggest we wouldn’t have been interested in the prospect of Gordon bolstering this squad.
The England international offers plenty of quality, hard work and feistiness in the final third which would be welcome traits in this forward line.
For the time being, however, we just can’t see past our available options. We’re not missing anything, other than perhaps some greater availability from the likes of Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota.
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