Liverpool recovered well from Jonjo Shelvey’s opening effort to secure an early lead for Eddie Howe’s travelling Newcastle United outfit.
Following the half-time whistle, however, some fans flocked to social media to share differing viewpoints on Thiago Alcantara’s performance in the first 45 minutes.
The Spanish international was directly at fault for the Magpies’ goal, scuppering a clearance to hand the former Red an opportunity to take on Alisson Becker from range.
The 30-year-old arguably improved as the game went on, though it’s certainly plausible that Liverpool is feeling the absence of Fabinho’s reassuring presence in the middle of the park.
That having been said, there’s no question that the former Bayern Munich ace has been one of our strongest performers since the resumption of domestic football in November and we’d back the footballer to produce a more solid second-half performance.
Given our perfect reaction to going down early to Shelvey’s opening effort, we’ve put ourselves in a good position to further widen the deficit – particularly if Diogo Jota and Mo Salah can keep up their relentless approach to the game.
You can catch some of the fan reaction below:
Thiago needs Fabinho horribly.
— 🫥😶 (@MPHarrison93) December 16, 2021
Thiago man, what a baller😍😍😍
— jas (@jaslfc__) December 16, 2021
salah class, thiago been poor. lucky to be ahead and dominating since. atmosphere non-existent
— dominic (@NomadTrent) December 16, 2021
We ain’t on about who’s better overall. It’s about who’s better on the night thiago looks way off it tonight
— brandon (@brandonclare04) December 16, 2021
I can't see past Thiago, he's pure class on the ball most of the time. The Ox has been immense in recent games, looks like he's enjoying himself
— Dale Calder (@daleycalder) December 16, 2021
https://twitter.com/mxrwan05/status/1471583537455411202
i just love thiago, i just get so excited whenever he is on the ball.
— Andy (@andy__gfx) December 16, 2021
good performance today, great trent, great mo, great jota.