How did the players fare in Newcastle United's 2-0 home defeat to Liverpool?
NEWCASTLE (4-3-3):
3 Pope: Suffered a calamitous rush of blood as he handled the ball while sliding in ahead of Salah outside his area – will miss out on Wembley as a result
4 Trippier: Stopped to appeal for handball when he should have been closing down Nunez for Liverpool’s opener
4 Schar: Couldn’t keep tabs on Liverpool’s forwards in the first half, but came close with a second-half header
4 Botman: His positioning wasn’t up to its usual high standards as he was caught out by a number of routine balls over the top
4 Burn: Allowed Liverpool’s forward to get in behind him on a number of occasions and his lack of mobility was exposed
5 Anderson: His first Premier League start hardly went as planned as he was sacrificed in the wake of Pope’s first-half dismissal
6 Longstaff: Deserves credit for running himself into the ground in an attempt to keep Newcastle in the game in the second half
6 Joelinton: Tried to keep Newcastle on the front foot when they were down to ten men, but was whipped off after treatment in the second half
5 Almiron: Displayed his usual energy and commitment and came close with an early effort that Alisson saved
5 Isak: Tried to carry the fight to the Liverpool backline, but his only effort of note failed to hit the target in the second half
7 SAINT-MAXIMIN: Caused the Liverpool defence problems as he drove forward in the final third and almost scored with a shot that was tipped onto the bar
Subs:
6 Dubravka (for Anderson, 25): Came off the bench in the first half and made a fine diving save from Nunez in the second
5 Wilson (for Isak, 64): Should probably have done better when he shot straight at Alisson in the closing stages
7 Gordon (for Almiron, 64): Added some real impetus to Newcastle’s second-half attacking with his surges down the middle
5 Murphy (for Trippier, 64): Wasn’t really a factor in the closing stages of the game
Ritchie (for Joelinton, 70)
(not used): Dummett, Lascelles, Manquillo, Lewis, Ritchie.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3):
ALISSON 8; Alexander-Arnold 6, Gomez 6, van Dijk 6, Robertson 7; Henderson 7 (Elliott 58, 5), Fabinho 6, Bajcetic 7 (Milner 58, 5); Salah 7, Nunez 8 (Firmino 58, 5), Gakpo 7 (Jota 58, 7).
Subs (not used): Kelleher (gk), Keita, Matip, Tsimikas, Phillips.
Man Of The Match: ALISSON – Liverpool’s goalkeeper made a couple of crucial saves and exploited Newcastle’s vulnerability to balls over the top.
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