How Klopp's changes inspired Liverpool win at Newcastle

As Darwin Nunez lashed in his second goal to steal three points for 10-man Liverpool, Newcastle United were left wondering how on earth they had lost a match in which they had been in full control.

Simple bad luck played a part, as it always does in dramatic turnarounds like this. In the 67 minutes that followed Virgil van Dijk’s red card Liverpool mustered only two shots on target. Both of them went in.

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Nevertheless Liverpool’s comeback was a tactical victory first and foremost for Jurgen Klopp.

See: Klopp - I've never had a match like it

Following a first-half pattern of Newcastle exposing the visitors’ familiar defensive issues around Trent Alexander-Arnold (which allowed Anthony Gordon to flourish), a mixture of Klopp’s aggressive substitutions and Eddie Howe’s withdrawal of Sandro Tonali helps to explains the inexplicable.

Here’s how Liverpool beat Newcastle 2-1 at St James' Park.

Newcastle target Trent in fast first half

Taking their strategy straight from the playbooks of various Liverpool opponents over the last few months, Newcastle knew just how to poke holes in Klopp’s defence.

They frequently built their attacks down Liverpool’s left, rotating possession to pull the opposition over to that side of the pitch before quickly switching it out to Gordon – who was holding the width on the other side and ready to run straight at Alexander-Arnold.

Newcastle’s average positions in the first half show how bunched they were to the right, with Gordon (10) high on the left.

This built momentum for Newcastle and, more importantly, put the Liverpool right-back on the back foot psychologically. Alexander-Arnold’s yellow card, given for dissent after a tussle with Gordon, was followed shortly after by a tug on Gordon that came close to a second booking.

He stayed on, but dazed by a duel going against him, Alexander-Arnold made a big mistake, letting a simple pass slip underneath his foot, from which Gordon capitalised to score the opener.

But that was only half of his battle with Gordon. When Liverpool had possession, Gordon worked furiously to shuttle from out to in, and in to out, to track Alexander-Arnold – and be ready to pick up the ball in the channel of space that opens up between Alexander-Arnold’s right-back and central midfield positions.

In fact, it was precisely that movement from Gordon (and focus on targeting the weak link) that put him in the right place to capitalise on the error. As Mohamed Salah looks to pass, Gordon is already on the move, forcing the mistake.

And here’s Gordon again, driving into the area of the pitch between Alexander-Arnold’s two roles that always seems to fizz with potential. Gordon’s pass here led to Van Dijk’s red card.

Klopp subs and Tonali exit change game

From a Newcastle perspective they allowed the match to drift in the second half, failing to play with the same aggression or momentum and lacking the killer instinct required to score a second goal. They attempted 17 tackles and made four interceptions in the first half, but only nine tackles and one interception in the second.

But Liverpool made things difficult after their task - in what had been a chaotic match of fast transitions – was simplified by the red card, forcing them to sit deeper, absorb pressure, and wait for chances to counter.

Those chances were few and far between before Klopp’s substitutions, which changed the dynamic of his 4-4-1 formation.

Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo didn’t really work as wingers. Both allowed Newcastle to build down the wings too easily, and so Klopp made a double change, where Harvey Elliott and Diogo Jota came on into the wide positions.

Klopp sniffed something happening. In brief glimpses, as the ball turned over, Jota was finding space by drifting into central areas and picking up the ball between Newcastle’s lines of defence and midfield.

Finally, a path to successful counter-attacks had been discovered.

Twenty minutes later, Klopp capitalised with another double substitution, this one seeing Nunez go up front as Salah moved to the right and Elliott into central midfield.

Salah notably kept drifting into the middle, mimicking Jota’s dance from the left, and it suddenly gave Liverpool a huge advantage on the counter as they found the space around an isolated Bruno Guimaraes.

The best examples of the pattern that Klopp noticed after Jota came on, and then doubled down on with the later subs, were the two Liverpool goals.

Look at how Jota and Salah, the two wingers, ran into the middle to exchange passes and set Nunez away for the equaliser.

For the second goal, again it’s Salah and Jota causing havoc behind the Newcastle midfield, popping up in the middle of the pitch.

Howe didn’t do enough to shut down Liverpool’s counter-attacking threat once it emerged with that first double substitution, and in fact he arguably made things worse by withdrawing Tonali on 72 minutes.

Tonali was superb in setting the tempo for Newcastle, with his aggression driving them forward, and the hosts’ problems controlling central midfield – controlling Jota and Salah – began when Tonali came off.

Klopp deserves credit for seeing what worked and going even harder on that tactic, but that doesn’t mean, once the dust has settled, that he will be happy.

The attacking depth (and variety of styles) at his disposal proved enough in the end, but familiar defensive issues around Alexander-Arnold and Van Dijk should have led to a Newcastle win.

As for Newcastle, they will know this was a huge missed opportunity. Howe won the first tactical battle – but he lost the war.