Newcastle United began 2024 the same way they concluded 2023, with a loss to Liverpool.
While losing at Anfield is never a bad thing, the manner in which Newcastle lost to their fifth defeat in the previous six Premier League games was depressing.
Though a 4-2 result does not appear to be too bad on paper, Jurgen Klopp’s team was extremely wasteful in front of goal, missing a penalty.
In fact, the Reds amassed the highest ever xG (expected goals) total in a Premier League game recorded in history, standing at 7.27 compared to Newcastle’s 0.59.
Eddie Howe’s team may have few complaints about the outcome, but that doesn’t mean the game was without controversy.
Indeed, Diogo Jota has been accused of diving to win Liverpool their second spot-kick of the evening.
Unsurprisingly, Howe was quizzed on the matter after the game.
Liverpool 4-2 Newcastle: Eddie Howe cannot understand what happened to his team
Speaking to BBC Sport after the game, Howe admitted he could not understand how Liverpool were awarded their two penalties, albeit he did concede the home side played very well.
“I thought Liverpool played very well. It was a really tough game for us,” he said at 22:23 on 01/01/2023.
“I’m still confused over the penalties we conceded. The second one especially didn’t look like a penalty. We had one before that [not given], that was probably the turning point.
“We’re battling to get our best levels back. The effort and determination was there. As long as we continue to see that we’ll be fine.
“The most important thing is we’re fighting. We’re missing a lot of players, we’ve had a lot of tough fixtures in a congested December.”
Eddie Howe: Newcastle boss needs a big improvement
Though Howe is not thought to be under any external pressure at this time, there is little doubt that things need to change.
Newcastle has only won two games this season in all competitions, and the likelihood of that continuing against Sunderland on Saturday is highly concerning.
If that isn’t accomplished, the season will be over.
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