Digging Deeper Into Liverpool’s 0-0 Draw with Newcastle United

We take a closer look at some winner, losers and narratives
after a frustrating draw on Tyneside.

Another frustrating performance, another draw, another two
points dropped, and another round of eminently winnable matches
instead seeing the Reds’ rivals narrow the gap to the league
leaders. Below, we dive into the good and the bad of the current
state of the Reds.

Winners

Thiago: The Spanish international made his
long-awaited return to the pitch tonight, after Richarlison’s
horror tackle in the Merseyside derby sidelined him for over two
months, and he immediately improved things. Always in space and
showing an impetus to move the ball with much greater speed than
his team-mates had done in the preceding 70 minutes, the former
Bayern man provided a creative threat from the middle of the park
that had been sorely missing.

When he was signed, Thiago was described by this writer as one
of very few players who could immediately improve Liverpool’s
starting XI. Hopefully, he can get healthy and fulfill that
prediction sooner rather than later.

Chances: Unlike against the Baggies at the
weekend, and despite the players collectively looking out of sync
and individually making a shocking number of mistakes, at least the
Reds created some quality chances tonight, and on most matchdays,
would have walked off the pitch winners by a goal or two.

It is entirely reasonable to be frustrated by tonight’s game,
but the sleepwalking second-half capitulation against West Bromwich
was far more worrying. Hopefully, we’ll see neither in the future,
but if we must, this writer prefers the former.

Losers

CuJo: Listen, Curtis Jones has been remarkably
good this year. He has produced much more than could reasonably
have been expected of a 19-year old who, at the start of the
season, had played 122 minutes of Premier League football.

That said, he has been real bad two games in a row now, and
probably needs to be sat for a minute. Ponderous in possession, the
academy product has shown a proclivity for getting caught on the
ball — leading to the goal conceded at Anfield at the weekend —
without offering much in the way of creativity at the other end to
offset the risk.

With Thiago and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain back in contention,
Jones could be due a rest, and both he and the club will likely be
better for it in the long run.

Trent: That one bonkers crossfield slicer in
the first half notwithstanding, the Reds right-back had another off
night. With only 2 accurate crosses and a single key pass from 102
touches, the 22-year old offered shockingly little on the offensive
side of the ball, with both open play and set piece delivery
uncharacteristically poor.

Mo: Rounding out the right-side rejects on the
night was the Egyptian King. Despite topping the league’s
goalscoring charts, Salah has struggled to get into position for
high quality shots this season, racking up only six clear cut
chances in 15 appearances. Two of them fell to him tonight, and the
two-time Golden Boot winner missed them both.

The penalties and some exceptional finishing has masked the
issue, but the former Roma man has seen both his shot volume and
quality drop to unprecedented lows this season, and if he can’t
pick things back up, his starting position could be under serious
threat from Diogo Jota when the Portuguese returns from injury next
month.

Centre-Backs: The Reds need one. Stat. Nat
Phillips is a big unit and probably a nice guy, but he’s not a
Premier League defender, and certainly not up to the tasks required
of him at Liverpool, specifically. Fabinho is decent enough
short-term cover — even though his lack of pace and tendency to sit
down on his tackles causes some issues — but he is one of the
world’s premier defensive midfielders, and Liverpool would be much
better served using him there.

Somebody else can check the records, but it is unlikely that any
team has ever won the Premier League without any healthy senior
centre-backs. If Liverpool wish to repeat on last season’s success,
they desperately need to fill the void in the centre of their
defense by the time January ends.

What Happens Next

The calendar is a bit of a mess in the coming month, as the Reds
now have five days off before traveling to Southampton on Monday, then take on Aston
Villa in a meaningless FA Cup match the
subsequent Friday, before there’s a nine day gap until the
top-of-the-table clash with Manchester
United. In theory, this should mean nearly a full two weeks for
the first team squad to train, recover, and perhaps even get
healthy.

Whether that is how it ends up playing out — spoilers: we doubt
it — remains to be seen, but on paper, at least, there is some
surprising respite to be had in the near future.