Partly thanks to a goal from Cody Gakpo, Liverpool won 0-2 at fourth-placed Newcastle United on Saturday evening. Chelsea continued their disastrous season with a home defeat against last-placed Southampton: 0-1.
Everything went wrong in the initial phase for the Newcastle of basic player Sven Botman. ‘The Magpies’ received Darwin Núñez’s 0-1 after ten minutes. The Uruguayan finished convincingly after a wonderful pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Cody Gakpo

After more than fifteen minutes, Gakpo was the celebrated man. The former PSV player passed goalkeeper Nick Pope after Mohamed Salah had put him in an excellent position. In addition, Gakpo, who had scored his first Premier League goal in the derby against Everton on Monday, was just short of being offside.

Nick Pope missing Final

Concerns for Newcastle were compounded after 22 minutes with Pope being sent off. The keeper made hands outside the sixteen-meter area when attempting to thwart a Liverpool counter.

Newcastle regularly managed to become dangerous with ten men. For example, Dan Burn headed on the crossbar and Allan Saint-Maximin saw a shot explode on the aluminum.

Van Dijk

After the resumption, the defense of Liverpool – where Virgil van Dijk made his comeback after a month and a half from injury – was less tested, although the visitors gave away a lot of space in standard situations. Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp took Gakpo off after 59 minutes.

The win lifts Liverpool to eighth place with 35 points. The deficit at number four Newcastle is six points, while ‘The Reds’ have also played a game less. No free bets will be wasted on Liverpool to win the league, but a top 4 race is on the cards now.