Liverpool secured a late victory at St. James Park after Newcastle fought back to level at 2 before a very late Rio Ngumoha strike. Arne Slot has lacked midfield continuity as Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have not yet operated together, though Gravenberch returned from suspension with a dominant, yellow-carded display and scored Liverpool's opener. Liverpool have been easy to cut through in midfield, especially when leading. Virgil van Dijk produced a near single-handed defensive performance while Szoboszlai excelled at right-back. Ibrahima Konate struggled again and faces pressure to improve amid limited competition.
Through the first two matches of the season, Arne Slot has been unable to call on the midfield trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai that he leaned on last season. Gravenberch returned to action following his suspension on Monday and marked the occasion with a dominant performance and was the scorer of Liverpool's opener. His performance is all the more impressive when considering he spent a majority of the match on a yellow card while dealing with the uber-physical Newcastle midfield.
Monday was a performance for the ages, seeming to hold down the Liverpool backline on his own at times, though Szoboszlai's performance at right-back was incredible as well. Swap the Dutchman for any other defender in world football and Liverpool do not win that match yesterday. Ibrahima Konate, on the other hand, struggled again, a concerning trend to start the season.
Collection
[
|
...
]