
Newcastle lost for the only the second time in the league this season, with Liverpool being the team that handed them both defeats.
An action-packed first half started with Darwin Nunez opening the scoring for the away side, bringing the ball down brilliantly before smashing it into the bottom-left corner for his sixth goal in the Premier League.
Cody Gakpo then made it two goals in two games and doubled Liverpool's lead, bundling the ball past Nick Pope just seven minutes after the first.
Things went from bad to worse for the English goalkeeper when he received a straight red card for handling the ball outside of the box, stopping Mohamed Salah from going around him after Alisson launched the ball long.
Despite going down to 10-men, the Magpies were arguably the better team in the second half and will be frustrated at the amount of chances they missed against a very open Liverpool side.
This results does not affect Newcastle too much as they stay fourth in the table, whereas Liverpool move up into eighth position whilst still having games in hand on teams above them.
Here are some of the main takeaways from St James Park
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Newcastle continue to struggle in front of goal
Since the turn of the new year, Newcastle have only won a single game, missing out on crucial points due to their lack of composure in front of goal.
This game was another example of this, having more shots than Liverpool but failing to convert their chances.
Alisson pulled off some decent saves but Eddie Howe will be disappointed that his team didn't do better on certain occasions, most notably with Miguel Almiron in the opening minutes and when Dan Burn hit the crossbar.
They have scored just three goals in 2023 so far, a statistic that makes poor reading for a team with an excellent defence and with hopes of securing a Champions League berth for next season.
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Karius will likely start in goal for Carabao Cup final
Due to Pope being shown a straight red card, his three match suspension means he will miss the Carabao Cup final.
Therefore Loris Karius will likely start in goal due to Martin Dubravka being cup tied.
In the 22nd minute, Pope was in a race with Salah after Alisson looked long for the Egyptian on the counter, but the goalkeeper mis-judged the flight of the ball and grabbed it outside of the area, giving the referee no choice but to dismiss him.
This means that he will now miss their cup final against Manchester United in a weeks time, and second-choice Dubravka is cup tied for the game as he has already appeared in the competition whilst on-loan with the Red Devils earlier in the season.
Therefore, Karius is likely to be called upon, a man who's last game for an English club came in the disastrous Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid back in 2018.
He is yet to make an appearance for the Magpies this season but his first could see him contribute to Newcastles first major trophy since 1955.
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Liverpool's front three is starting to click
This is Liverpool's second win on the bounce in the Premier League, with the front three being integral in both wins.
Salah looks back to his best, scoring against Everton on Monday and setting up Gakpo against Newcastle with a sublime dink over the defence.
Nunez was also involved in the goals in both games, smashing the ball past Pope after controlling it brilliantly in front of goal.
In addition, Gakpo scored his second goal in Liverpool colours in two games, as well as linking up brilliantly with the other two out on the wings, showing why he was brought in by Liverpool in January.
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Alisson is vital to this team
Without the Brazilian goalkeeper, Liverpool would find themselves much lower down the Premier League table.
This was evident again in this game as he made numerous vital saves, keeping the Reds in the contest, even when Newcastle were reduced to 10-men.
His most notable saves came from Almiron, one early in the first half and the other when he was one-on-one in the second.
He won himself Liverpool's man of the match in this game and his contribution was recognised by Jurgen Klopp at full time, giving his goalkeeper a huge hug.
The £65 million fee was a world record transfer for a goalkeeper at the time, but he has proved to be worth every penny and has been an integral part of their recent success.

