Newcastle United were comfortably defeated by Liverpool on Wednesday night and it was another bad outing for Nick Pope.
Ahead of Newcastle United facing Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final next month, the two sides faced off at Anfield on Wednesday.
It was the imperious Premier League leaders who ran out 2-0 winners, with a goal in either half from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, respectively, sealing the three points.
Eddie Howe’s side remained competitive and battled hard but didn’t really come close to threatening Liverpool outside of a squandered Callum Wilson chance.
Newcastle’s fate was sealed early on when Liverpool took the lead after just 11 minutes in a moment that Nick Pope won’t look back on fondly.
It was yet another poor performance from the goalkeeper and the way the home fans reacted to their side’s opening goal just shows that he really should have saved it.
Another bad performance from Nick Pope in goal for Newcastle
Though Sandro Tonali was the worst performer on the night, it was still another bad outing for Pope between the sticks.
The goalkeeper was dreadful on his return to the side in the 4-3 win over Nottingham Forest on Sunday, with his wayward positioning seeing Newcastle fall behind.
It was a similar story on Merseyside when Pope allowed another tame shot to go in. This time, Pope couldn’t get his hands to Szoboszlai’s weak effort as it trickled in over the line when, even if it took a slightly deflection, he should have saved it.
It was such a bad error that some Liverpool fans in attendance actually thought the shot wouldn’t go in at first as the effort was so limp, only to be left delighted.
Sky Sports reported Adam Bate reported from Anfield: “Pope must be unsighted because that has gone in the middle of the goal, there were even a few disappointed groans before the relaisation here that the Newcastle goalkeeper had not reached it.”
Martin Dubravka must return to the starting XI over Pope
Life must be frustrating for Martin Dubravka at the moment, who has found himself back on the sidelines after deciding to stay with the club in January.
The Serbian came into the team when Pope was ruled out with injury and has put in a great string of performances, with his composure on the ball helping settle the defence much more than Pope can.
Even when it comes to stopping the ball from going in, Dubravka has double the cleansheets that Pope has in fewer games.
Dubravka could have moved to Saudi Arabia in the January transfer window for an undoubtedly big payday but opted to extend his contract for another year. Now he finds himself back on the bench for a player who has not earned the starting spot.
If Howe is running a meritocracy in his squad, then he should return to the starting XI.
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