MY ACCOUNT
Jurgen Klopp hailed an “absolutely outstanding” display from a much-changed Liverpool side as they won 1-0 at Newcastle United to go top of the Premier League.
Naby Keita scored the only goal of the game at St James’ Park to put the Reds two points clear of Manchester City, ahead of their trip to Leeds United later on Saturday.
Klopp made five changes to his starting line-up following a 2-0 Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Villarreal as Liverpool continue to challenge for an unprecedented quadruple.
Keita was among the players who came into the team and the midfielder was certainly not the only one who demonstrated the strength in depth Klopp has at his disposal.
That is 15 Premier League games without defeat for Liverpool and they have not conceded a goal in four matches in all competitions.
Klopp, who signed a contract extension this week, was delighted with the way a new-look team got the job done
The Reds boss told BT Sport: “Coming here, they have a team in form obviously and a crowd waiting for ages for proper success, now they have six home wins on the bounce. So coming here with changes and building pretty much a new set-up is massive.
“It’s really difficult and so the performance is absolutely outstanding I have to say, I loved it. They controlled the game in so many ways.
“It’s difficult, the only plan they had was long ball to our right side and from there they wanted to play on. We had some moments where we struggled, because it’s difficult, but the rest we controlled.”
The German added: “The impact we have from the bench in games is outstanding, but coming from the bench before a game pretty much before a game, we expect a lot but the boys have to deliver.
“It was outstanding. Joe Gomez, what a game. Naby Keita, what a game. James Milner, what a game. That’s just mentioning three.
“Diogo Jota, oh my god what a game. Joel Matip of course and the other five had to go through again and you see Andy Robertson in minute 93 he put a 150 mile per hour sprint, that is just absolutely outstanding.”
Jota was making his 50th Premier League appearance for Liverpool and provided the assist for Keita’s winner.
Liverpool have won a club-record 42 games in all competitions this season. Everton (43 in 1984-85), City (44 in 2017-18, 47 in 2020-21, 50 in 2018-19) and Manchester United (44 in 2008-09) are the only English top-flight clubs to have bettered that tally.
