Steve McManaman gives honest opinion on Nick Pope after Liverpool’s first goal vs Newcastle United 

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Newcastle United tasted defeat at Liverpool once again.

Indeed, Newcastle United lost 2-0 at Liverpool on Wednesday evening, adding to the frustration about the inconsistent nature of this season.

While losing at Anfield is by no means a disaster, the fact Eddie Howe’s side did not lay much of a glove on the Premier League leaders was hugely disappointing.

Though the scoreline was not as harsh as the 4-0 defeat at Manchester City earlier this month, the fact Newcastle didn’t even have a shot on target underlines what a meek display it was.

Perhaps things would have been different had Callum Wilson taken his chance when 1-0 down. Still, it rarely seemed as if Liverpool were truly troubled even despite Newcastle slightly improving after the break.

Sadly, even if Newcastle had scored, there was a real feeling that Liverpool could have just raised the tempo again.

The first goal was painful. Newcastle sat back, allowed Luis Diaz to drive into the box and cross for Dominik Szoboszlai to scuff one through Dan Burn’s legs and past Nick Pope.

Pope attracted some criticism for the goal, although pundit Steve McManaman came to his defence.

Nick Pope criticism gets “slightly unfair”

The former Liverpool and England star was working with Rafa Benitez on punditry duty for TNT Sports.

He was asked whether or not Pope could have done better, although appeared to suggest such criticism was not particularly warranted.

“[That’s] Slightly unfair, only because it goes through [Sandro] Tonali and Dan Burn’s legs,” he said.

“He’s unsighted when he hits the ball, he sees it there, he’s down, he’s a big, tall goalkeeper. It’s probably hard for him to get down and get it away, seeing it so late.”

Eddie Howe faces major ruthless decision over Nick Pope

Howe believes Pope is one of the best shot-stoppers in the Premier League and, to his credit, he’s been brilliant for Newcastle at times.

Still, Pope was also criticised for his performance against Nottingham Forest last time out. These frailties being questioned are not isolated events.

With Martin Dubravka largely in fine form before he dropped out of the side, perhaps the idea of bringing him back in cannot be dismissed out of hand.