Liverpool’s hopes of finishing in the top four were revived by successive victories, most recently in Newcastle thanks to goals from Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo
Jurgen Klopp has hinted that Liverpool will have to wait nervously to see if Darwin Nunez will be available for their Champions League meeting with Real Madrid.
The Reds capped off a strong week, which started with a win over Everton, with a second win in days by beating Newcastle United 2-0 at St James’ Park. Nunez opened the scoring on Tyneside with a brutal finish, before Cody Gakpo doubled his lead in the 17th minute.
And Liverpool’s dominance was compounded five minutes later when Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope was sent off for handling the ball outside the penalty area. The hosts continued to fight with a man down, but were unable to organize any kind of comeback. The result means Klopp’s charges have reduced the gap to the top four to just nine points and still have a game against Newcastle, who are bottom of the Champions League.
But after two wins boosted their hopes of qualifying for next season’s competition, attention quickly returned to this season’s tournament. Liverpool meet holders Real in a repeat of last May’s final, with the first leg on Tuesday night at Anfield.
However, Klopp could be forced to face the European champions without Nunez after being pulled out with a painful shoulder injury. The Uruguayan suffered from the problem after jumping off a header and crashing awkwardly. “The most negative thing was that Darwin [Nunez] had to leave. We have to see how serious it is – hopefully not too much,” Klopp said.
He added: “He had to find this issue and we need another assessment. I don’t know [the extent] at the moment. At the moment it hurts. I hope it just hurts and nothing else. We have to see how serious it is – I hope not too much.”
And while Klopp was happy with the result against Newcastle, he admitted they struggled to maintain their initial pace when they had the power play.
Klopp said: “We didn’t react very well against 10 men. Newcastle had nothing left to lose. You could see they are a top side with a top character – they threw it all away in the field. And we gave them too many set pieces.
“The relief of 2-0, the red card and suddenly a step down and the pace was gone. I would have liked to have done better but in the end I’m very happy we did it.” the line.”
In the more positive injury news, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino both continued their recovery coming off the bench, while Virgil van Dijk managed to play the full 90 minutes.
“Diogo [Jota] could have scored. Bobby [Firmino] started very well and then lost two or three balls, so they more or less fought back,” explains coach Kop. “Overcoming that is the next step for them. Virgil [Van Dijk], playing 90 minutes was difficult for him. The rest was really good.”