Liverpool moved 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a 2-0 win over Newcastle United at a jubilant Anfield on Wednesday.
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Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister gave Liverpool their latest victory, while second-placed Arsenal fell further off the pace after a draw with Nottingham Forest.
Overseen in the dugout by Johnny Heitinga, with head coach Arne Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff serving touchline bans, the league leaders took another significant step towards a much-anticipated title with only 10 matches to play.
Liverpool did not have it all their own way, but Newcastle's hopes of dealing a blow to their upcoming EFL Cup final opponents were hampered by the absence of top scorer Alexander Isak due to a groin issue.
Eddie Howe's side are left sixth, three points off the top four in a UEFA Champions League chase that now looks rather tighter than Liverpool's title fight.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
28 | +40 | 67 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
27 | +28 | 54 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
27 | +11 | 48 |
| 4 |
Man City
MCI
|
27 | +16 | 47 |
| 5 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
27 | +16 | 46 |
| 6 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
27 | +8 | 44 |
How the match unfolded
Liverpool had seen an early penalty appeal waved away even before their first shot brought an 11th-minute breakthrough, with Szoboszlai's low effort creeping past Nick Pope following Luis Diaz's cutback.
Newcastle remained in the game, though, and Callum Wilson passed up the sort of chance an in-form Isak might have taken when he ran through on goal but side-footed well wide.
Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah then each shot off target, but goalmouth action was scarce until Mac Allister doubled Liverpool's lead in the 63rd minute. Salah shimmied in the box and created space for a square pass to the midfielder, who swept into the top-left corner.
Salah's superb pass might have seen Diaz add a third when he prodded wide at full stretch, then Liverpool's star man drew a low stop from Pope, who was later adjudged to have been fouled when he spilled the ball in front of his goal line and Cody Gakpo poked in.
It was comfortable by that stage for Liverpool, with Newcastle's challenge fading fast as the away side worked instead to cap the scoring at two.
Szoboszlai steps up for Slot's side
This win brought an end to a gruelling stretch of the season for Liverpool, who have played five league games in the space of two weeks.
But rather than see their title tilt knocked off course by a testing schedule, the Reds have thrived. They began this run with a six-point lead and a game in hand over nearest challengers Arsenal and ended it with a 13-point advantage having played a game more.
Salah had scored in each of the Reds’ prior four matches, yet he acknowledged to TNT Sports ahead of facing Newcastle: "You're not going to win the league alone, so you want other players to also perform."
As the winger's scoring run came to an end on Wednesday, Szoboszlai stepped up. He has saved his best form of the season for this vital stretch, scoring and assisting against Manchester City before netting again here.
Szoboszlai had looked exhausted following the City game but was fit and firing once more when his team needed him. Now, with a week before their next game at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, he and Liverpool can regroup ahead of the run-in.
Anfield agony again for Newcastle
In a nine-game winning sequence in all competitions that transformed Newcastle's season across December and January, they won at both Old Trafford and Emirates Stadium, arenas that had proved impenetrable for past Magpies teams.
But Anfield, like the Etihad Stadium, continues to represent a step too far. Newcastle's last win away at Liverpool came back in 1995.
This was at least not the same meek surrender that had seen Newcastle blown apart by City in their previous away game, with the visitors going toe-to-toe with Liverpool for a time, but Howe's call for his players to be brave ultimately proved their undoing.
As Newcastle sought to attack in numbers, the gaps their full-backs left behind were exploited by Liverpool. Tino Livramento was out of position as Diaz advanced for the first goal, while Hall was still scrambling to recover as Salah laid on the second.
The visiting supporters might not have grumbled with that approach given past experiences of seeing their team beaten here without putting up a fight, but they will hope for a better outcome – perhaps aided by a fit-again Isak – in next month's cup final. They have not won at Wembley since 1955.
Club reports
Liverpool report | Newcastle report
What the managers said
Arne Slot: "Yes I did like what I saw, although there were things that we can improve as well. Maybe it was concentration because it was our fifth game in 15 days and I saw a few times us struggling a bit on the ball. That is something I am not used to with the players. But I thought after that we did really well, not only the players that started but those that came in as well."
Eddie Howe: "We played OK tonight, decent performance. Disappointed with goals we conceded. The first goal we don't track him into the box. We're fighting in the game after that to try and get the next goal. But then we do exactly the same thing. Two soft goals."
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Liverpool have now scored two or more goals in 18 consecutive games at Anfield in all competitions – the longest run of home games with more than one goal scored in succession by an English top-flight club since Sunderland from February to December 1935 (19).
Liverpool are unbeaten in 24 Premier League games (W17 D7), now the third-longest run in their top-flight history, behind runs of 31 matches from May 1987 to March 1988 and 44 from January 2019 to February 2020.
Liverpool have kept more clean sheets in the Premier League this season than any other side (12), although they have kept successive shutouts in the competition for the first time since a run of four from May to September 2024.
Only Thierry Henry in 2002/03 (20) has assisted more goals from open play in a single Premier League campaign than Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah this season (17).
