Shuffled Liverpool pack keeps pressure on City
Naby Keita scored the only goal as a much-changed Liverpool beat in-form Newcastle United 1-0 at St James' Park to climb briefly above Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
Jurgen Klopp, who this week signed a contract extension to keep him at Anfield until 2026, had complained about the timing of this early kick-off and made five changes after Thursday's (AEST) 2-0 win over Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League.
Mohamed Salah, Thiago Alcantara and Trent Alexander-Arnold watched on from the bench as Keita – one of those recalled – drilled in a contentious goal with 19 minutes gone.
Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dubravka kept his side in the game but Liverpool saw out the victory to move two points above City ahead of the reigning champion's trip to Leeds United, a match it won 4-0 without too much fuss to retake top spot.
Keita's winner came after he exchanged passes with Diogo Jota and rounded Dubravka, though Newcastle's players felt the goal should have been ruled out for a James Milner foul on Fabian Schar.
However, while Milner did catch his opponent, replays showed the Liverpool midfielder cleanly won the ball first and referee Andre Marriner was not instructed by VAR (video assistant referee) to review the goal.
Newcastle had a Miguel Almiron goal rightly disallowed for offside and otherwise struggled to create any openings, with Liverpool going close to a second before half-time when Jota's header was palmed over.
Jota was denied by Dubravka three times in the second half and Sadio Mane planted a shot wide from a good position in his final meaningful involvement before being replaced by Salah.
Newcastle had won four games in a row heading into this contest, though they only really tested Alisson through a Bruno Guimaraes drive as Liverpool picked up a 13th league victory in its past 14 outings.
