'It wasn't' - Eddie Howe reveals what he didn't understand about Liverpool victory over Newcastle United

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe gives his verdict on the 2-0 loss to Liverpool.

Eddie Howe rued Newcastle United’s defending in their loss to Liverpool.

The Reds earned a comfortable 2-0 win at Anfield to move 13 points clear at the summit of the Premier League. A tricky contest was expected against a Newcastle team that had won 13 of their previous 16 games and are pushing for Champions League qualification this season.

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But Arne Slot’s side duly put the Magpies to the sword. Dominik Szoboszlai opened the scoring early in the first half before fellow midfielder Alexis Mac Allister sealed all three points midway through the second period. Luis Diaz and Mo Salah spurned opportunities to make the victory more comfortable in the closing stages.

Newcastle, in contrast, failed to have a shot on target throughout the game. Howe accepted his side lacked a cutting edge in the final third but bemoaned the goals that the visitors conceded. The St James’ Park boss said at his post-match press conference: “I thought we played pretty well. What I don’t understand was the two goals – we should never have conceded from those situations. We had enough bodies back but didn’t mark the men. We were two yards off.

“I’m really disappointed with that aspect of our play but in between the boxes, I thought we were competitive. It wasn’t our best performance form an attacking sense but we had our moments. There wasn’t a bundle of chances for us but we weren’t clinical enough, that’s obvious. We had the ball in dangerous areas but didn’t make the most of those.”

‘Isak blow’

Newcastle were hit with a hammer late blow as talismanic 21-goal striker Alexander Isak was omitted from the squad because of a minor groin injury. The Magpies will face Liverpool again in two weeks time when they do battle at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final.

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Howe hopes Isak will be back and the loss can help for the upcoming showdown in the capital. He added: “We’ll analyse this game and it will help us for the final but I’m sure Liverpool will be saying the same thing. They’re a high-quality team, they have good players in all areas and can see why they’re doing so well.

“I had a chat with him [Isak] around lunchtime. He was feeling something yesterday and maybe hoped it would improve overnight but it didn’t. I thought we were always in the game, and showed our strength with our delivery or what we were trying to do - but we missed Alex’s quality, Joelinton’s strength and Sven’s [Botman] height and technical ability. We are missing some key components in our team and those players would have made a difference. Still, I back the players on the pitch but that quality was missing.

“The spirit and determination we lacked against Manchester City recently was there but we’ve still got a bit to go but a big improvement from our last away performance. So, I was pleased with the psychology of the squad. But there’s no doubting we’ve still got a bit to go. I think it was a big improvement from our last away performance though, and I take big hope from that.

“We’re going through a difficult run of fixtures – when you consider Nottingham Forest as well, they’re tough games for us. I think we’ve come through relatively well – now we’ve got to try to get back to winning ways.”

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