A fortuitous Joselu goal earned Newcastle United a point at home after Philippe Coutinho opened the scoring for Liverpool with a spectacular strike from range.
The 1-1 draw on Sunday sees the Reds drop to seventh in the Premier League table.
The away side did squander a few chances and will be disappointed with the result.
Here are three things we learned from the encounter.
The last time a Liverpool side could be deemed ‘solid’ at the back, Rafael Benitez was in charge. The Spaniard left the club in 2010 but always seems to have the inside track when he faces the Reds.
Even before his time in charge at Anfield, he had defeated Liverpool twice as Valencia boss, the performances that landed him the job in Merseyside in the first place.
Since leaving though, he’s faced his former employers three times, frustrating them on every occasion. A 2-2 draw during his brief stint in charge of Chelsea has been followed by 2-2 and now 1-1 draws while taking on Liverpool as Newcastle boss.
Rafael Benitez
Daniel Sturridge, much to the frustration of Liverpool fans, is one of those excellent strikers who are so injury prone, can only play in spurts before their next visit to the infirmary.
However, he could always be relied on to hit the back of the net even without many minutes under his belt. While the likes of Wayne Rooney always took a few games to get back into the groove after a spell on the sidelines, Sturridge has always been back among the goals even after being ruled out for long spells, similar to Sergio Aguero in that regard.
It hasn’t quite gone that way this time around though. Despite being a goal threat in flashes at Newcastle, there were a couple of chances that he would normally have tucked away. The Englishman has scored just once in seven games since his return to the first team.
Daniel Sturridge
There’s no doubt that Jurgen Klopp has brought zip and guile to Liverpool’s attack but what they’ve gain in front of goal, they’ve lost trying to defend their own.
The Reds have kept just two clean sheets this season and their attacking displays only serve to paper over the cracks of their defensive shortcomings.
After 75 games in charge of Liverpool in the Premier League, Benitez had 137 points, Klopp has 136 at the same juncture. He may be passionate, one of football’s more colourful characters and promotes an attractive style of play, but has he really improved the team?
Jurgen Klopp
