Defeating Newcastle, Liverpool firmly holds the top position in the Premier League

Liverpool hosted Newcastle at home in the 20th round of the Premier League on New Year's Day. Coach Jurgen Klopp's team entered 2024 with a resounding victory thanks to Mohamed Salah's brilliance despite the striker missing a penalty.

After the opening whistle, the home team quickly pushed up their formation and put a lot of pressure on Newcastle United's half. In just the first 15 minutes, Darwin Nunez had 2 dangerous chances. The Uruguayan striker missed both. When Nunez passed to Diaz to shoot into the opponent's net, he was offside.

In the 20th minute, Diaz was fouled by a Newcastle defender in the penalty area. Trent Alexander-Arnold gave Salah the chance to take the penalty, but the player could not beat the away team's goalkeeper Martin Dubravka.

Liverpool continued to have many notable attacks and the one who wasted the opportunity was still Nunez. His finishing was not sharp and made the fans at Anfield just shake their heads.

Salah missed the penalty but Liverpool still won big. (Photo: Getty Images)

At the end of the first half, Newcastle regretted when Dan Burn headed the ball into Liverpool's net. This goal was disallowed because Alexander Isak was offside from the previous touch. The first half ended without any goals scored.

The second half witnessed an exciting score chase between the two teams, although Newcastle was somewhat inferior to their opponents. In the 49th minute, Liverpool organized a quick counter-attack. Nunez had a perfect pass for Salah to run in and finish accurately, opening the score for coach Jurgen Klopp and his team.

Newcastle did not give up. Just 5 minutes later, Anthony Gordon made a good pass for Isak to get past Virgil van Dijk before shooting the ball with a tricky shot to equalize 1-1. In trouble, coach Jurgen Klopp continuously made substitutions and these adjustments were effective.

In the 74th minute, from a pass from Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones tapped the ball into the net to raise the score to 2-1 for Liverpool. Cody Gakpo scored just 4 minutes later.

Newcastle played with resilience when Sven Botman jumped high to head the ball into the box to reduce the score to 2-3. However, Salah's penalty goal helped Liverpool seal a 4-2 victory. The Anfield team still sits at the top of the Premier League table after round 20.

Result: Liverpool 4-2 Newcastle

Score

Liverpool: Salah (49'; 86'), Curtis Jones (74'), Gakpo (78')

Newcastle: Isak (54'), Botman (81')

Liverpool vs Newcastle lineup

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk, Konate, Gomez, Endo, Jones, Szoboszlai, Salah, Diaz, Nunez

Newcastle: Dubravka, Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn, Miley, Bruno Guimaraes, Longstaff, Gordon, Joelinton, Isak

Premier League Table 2023/2024

Round 20

XH	Team	Battle	BT-BB	Point
1	Liverpool	20	43-18	45
2	Aston Villa	20	43-27	42
3	Man City	19	45-21	40
4	Arsenal	20	37-20	40
5	Tottenham	20	42-29	39
6	West Ham	19	33-30	33
7	Man Utd	20	22-27	31
8	Brighton	19	38-33	30
9	Newcastle	20	39-29	29
10	Chelsea	20	34-31	28
11	Wolverhampton	20	30-31	28
12	Bournemouth	19	28-35	25
13	Fulham	20	28-35	24
14	Crystal Palace	20	22-29	21
15	Nottingham Forest	20	24-35	20
16	Brentford	19	26-31	19
17	Everton	20	24-28	16
18	Luton Town	19	23-37	15
19	Burnley	20	20-41	11
20	Sheffield United	19	15-47	9