Liverpool Rest Stars And Deliver Crucial Win Against Newcastle

Liverpool finished with a crucial 1-0 victory over Newcastle United in the early Saturday kickoff. The Reds managed to win despite not fielding the strongest possible lineup. In fact, it was the first time this Premier League season that Klopp fielded a team without one of Fabinho, Thiago, Alexander-Arnold, or Salah in the starting XI.

Keita netted a goal in the 19th minute, despite half-hearted Newcastle appeals for a foul on Fabian Schar. Liverpool then held on to their one-goal lead for the remainder of the game, with the Magpies doing little to trouble Allison.

In the 69th minute, Salah was brought on for Mane, and Henderson was replaced by Fabinho, while Thiago was brought on in the 78th minute.

This win over Eddie Howe’s men sets another new record for Jurgen Klopp. They’ve now won the most games in a single season with 42, the previous being 41, also held by Klopp and his 2019/2020 squad.

Liverpool resting their players for the bigger events

The choice to rest many top players comes as Liverpool have many big fixtures on the horizon, in pursuit of the quadruple.

A crucial second leg match against Villareal in the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday night awaits, where Liverpool are up 2-0 after the first leg win. A big fixture against Spurs on May 7 and the FA Cup final against Chelsea on May 14 follows.

"It was incredibly difficult for the boys today, to be honest, it’s clear. We played two and half days ago,” said Klopp in the post-game press conference.The boys that didn’t come on today you should have seen their faces when the final whistle went. The group is exceptionally talented and has a real good character, and that’s very helpful."

Liverpool throughout this season have proven they can win games by narrow margins even when not playing at their best, and in this case, even when not fielding the strongest possible lineup.

However, it is undeniable that the Reds have been in spectacular form since the start of the new year. In fact, since January 2, the only result that has harmed Liverpool in any way was the 2-2 draw at Manchester City.

Liverpool, with 4 games remaining in the Premier League this season, are now ahead of Manchester City by 2 points, although City face Leeds United in the late Saturday game and have 5 PL games remaining.