Newcastle United could do very little to stop Liverpool on Wednesday night.
The Magpies much do much better if they want to win the Carabao Cup in March as they’ll have to face Arne Slot’s side once again.
Although Eddie Howe is having to work with a depleted squad at the moment, his available players were powerless when it came to stopping Liverpool’s two goals in either half.
Howe criticised Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali for their efforts in the game. Both players were at fault for the goals and struggled to leave their mark on the game. Guimaraes was ‘awful’ against Liverpool, according to John Anderson who suggested that the Brazilian has been struggling for some time.
Guimaraes has a chance to rest ahead of Newcastle United’s next Premier League game in a week. Newcastle face Brighton in the FA Cup fifth round where Howe could rotate his squad like he did for the previous two games in the competition.
With the result a possible preview of how the Carabao Cup final could play out, Alan Shearer has revealed what really surprised him in the defeat.
Alan Shearer on Anthony Gordon decision in Newcastle loss
Anthony Gordon’s family are Liverpool fans, so they may have been pleased to see their team win, despite the 24-year-old’s allegiance to the Magpies.
Post-match, Gordon messaged Curtis Jones, a player who he has played alongside at youth and senior level for the England national team. The attacker could do nothing to threaten Liverpool’s goal on Wednesday night, however.
In an interesting move from Howe, Gordon played as a striker rather than on the left wing where he has played for the majority of the season. The decision was one that even took Shearer by surprise, which he revealed on The Rest Is Football podcast.
“He chose to play Gordon alongside Wilson which I was slightly surprised about,” Shearer said.
“I guess he wanted to try and stop that ball into Liverpool’s midfield because they are good at that and very dangerous from that and love to build up from that position.
“But what that then did was took the threat of Gordon against Trent Alexander-Arnold down Newcastle’s left, Liverpool’s right which I felt would have been a really interesting battle. Running at Trent you might get a bit of joy. But we rarely saw that because of what Eddie decided to do.
“I guess my takeaway from the game is that the best team won. Liverpool pretty much dominated. Newcastle had one opportunity to make it 1-1 in the first half but other than that Newcastle really didn’t threaten. I don’t think any Newcastle fan will have any doubt or complain about the result.”
Newcastle were without Alexander Isak for the game. Howe revealed that he had complained about his groin the day after Newcastle’s win against Nottingham Forest, where he scored a brace.
Eddie Howe’s tactical decision could be a smokescreen
Shearer is right when he says that Newcastle fans will not have any complaints over the result. The Magpies didn’t register a shot on target and barely threatened the goal throughout.
Howe made several big decisions that took fans by surprise based on what he had said before the game. Sven Botman and Joelinton were ‘close’ to returns against Liverpool but the pair didn’t even make the bench in the defeat.
Isak’s absence isn’t believed to be a long-term problem and the Swede is set to return to action ahead of the Carabao Cup final.
There is a big chance that Howe was well aware of the cup final and decided to make the shock tactical change to trick Liverpool into believing that is how they will play at Wembley Stadium.
With a few weeks until the final, Newcastle fans will be desperate to see their best players available for an incredibly important game.
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