Had you suggested that there was any chance that Liverpool would beat Newcastle after half an hour of this evening's game, serious questions would have been asked about your judgement.
Jurgen Klopp's side were absolutely abysmal during that first period in the match. Not only did they find themselves behind due to an Anthony Gordon goal on the back of a Trent Alexander-Arnold mistake, but they would soon be reduced to ten men after Virgil van Dijk received a straight red card.
At that stage, the only remaining question was how much Newcastle would win by. The reality was far different.
The home side all but retreated into their shell after the opposition went down to ten men. Liverpool kept things tight, going on to make some changes in the final 20 minutes in order to find a goal
Darwin Nunez was the man to get it. Having come off the bench, he scored a sensational equaliser to get his side back on level terms with ten minutes to go.
🗣️ "RAZOR-SHARP RED!"
Darwin Nunez with a LATE equaliser!! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/AZnD4gnNwN— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 27, 2023
Liverpool would have been delighted with a point at this stage, but they would go on to get all three.
Nunez would have his second in injury time, giving his team the most unlikely three points of the campaign so far.
🗣️ "RAZOR-SHARP RED!"
Darwin Nunez with a LATE equaliser!! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/AZnD4gnNwN— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 27, 2023
A remarkable result for Liverpool in the circumstances.
Jamie Carragher calls out Andros Townsend's Newcastle comment
While Liverpool fans will rightly enjoy this result over the coming days, Newcastle supporters will wonder how their team managed to lose the game from such a dominant position.
They were incredibly poor against ten men, especially in the second half. Some expected them to push on this season and maybe even challenge for the title, but this game showed they are well off that level as things stand.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Andros Townsend attempted to put a positive spin on this game for his old team, although Jamie Carragher was quickly to rightly dismiss his claims as absolute nonsense.
Townsend: I think Newcastle will be viewing this positively. Yes they will be disappointed tonight and tomorrow, but on Tuesday they will reflect on the positives. 11v11 they were the better side against Liverpool, 11v10 they were the better side against Liverpool.
We're talking about one of the best sides in this country over the last four or five years. They will look back on the positives...
Once the dust settles, they will look at this more positively than negatively.
Carragher: I don't agree they will look at this positively. If we're judging Newcastle among the top teams, and we should do becauser they deserved to get in the top four and I think they're one of the best teams in the country.
If what happened today happened to Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, or Liverpool at home, I don't think they would be taking too many positives from it. That's the next step in terms of what they expect from themselves...
I think it's difficult to take the positives from it.
Townsend: I disagree. They're not Man City, Man United, or Liverpool, they're a team that is still growing. Two or three years ago they were fighting relegation.
Carragher: You can't keep talking about two or three years ago. They're in the top four.
Townsend: They're in the Champions League. They came here today and dominated against Liverpool with 11 and ten men. They made mistakes, they won't make them again.
Carragher: They did dominate them 11v11, they're obviously going to dominate them 11v10. Where Newcastle need to be and where we need to see them, we've got to start judging them against these top teams.
Maybe they're not quite at the level of Manchester City, but they finished above Liverpool last season. If that was at Anfield and Newcastle did that to Liverpool, there would be no positives taken from it.
Carragher was right to call out this comment.
The claim that Newcastle will view this game in a positive light is nonsense. Facing a top four rival who had ten men for over 60 minutes, they completely threw away a dominant position and ended up losing the game.
Having spent a huge amount of money and finished in the top four last season, they need to be judged by the same standards as the other top teams in the Premier League.
Eddie Howe will rightly have a lot of questions to answer in the aftermath of this fixture.
SEE ALSO: Jamie Carragher Was Fuming Over Shay Given's Take On Virgil Van Dijk Red Card
