Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle: Match report & 3 talking points as Reds move 13 points clear | OneFootball

Liverpool continued their march to the Premier League title as they extended their advantage at the top of the table to 13 points by beating Newcastle 2-0.

Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister in either half gave the Reds a deserved win over Eddie Howe's side, who were forced to deal with the late withdrawal of Alexander Isak from the squad due to a groin injury.

Victory, combined with Arsenal's goalless draw with Nottingham Forest, meant Arne Slot's men once again built on their lead at the summit.

How the game unfolded

With rain battering Anfield at kick-off, the two teams put on an end-to-end start as slick as the conditions.

And it was Liverpool who benefited, taking the lead after just 11 minutes when Szoboszlai's low left-footed finish from a Luis Diaz pull back eluded Nick Pope when he might have done better.

The hosts continued to threaten from there, though Kostas Tsimikas could only thrash over their best opportunity of the period after the opener with his weaker right foot.

Newcastle then failed to punish that wastefulness, Callum Wilson passing a one-on-one chance well wide with Liverpool's defenders wrongly believing an offside flag was coming.

And the half ended with Szoboszlai almost doubling his tally, curling agonisingly wide from just inside the box.

The break seemed to take some of the energy out of what had been an entertaining game, with Liverpool happy to contain and Newcastle seemingly looking to keep things tight to give themselves a chance of a late smash and grab.

But any hopes were extinguished just past the hour mark, when Mac Allister rifled home Liverpool's second at the Kop end after Salah had waited patiently before rolling the ball into his path in the box.

That effectively signalled the end of any Newcastle resistance, with the hosts going closest to find another goal through Cody Gakpo before the whistle sounded on another 2-0 victory.

Title in the bag for Liverpool

If there were any Liverpool fans out there who felt that, somehow, a desperately short-handed Arsenal might be able to chase them down at the top, then surely this has settled the nerves.

The Reds now sit a whopping 13 points clear at the top, with just ten fixtures of their Premier League campaign remaining.

Yes, the Gunners have a game in hand, but their attacking injuries and failure to score in back-to-back games makes it feel unlikely they will put together any sort of run of wins.

And it is this, as much as the quality Arne Slot's side possess, that means it is now inevitable they will be lifting the trophy in May.

Salah has assist record in his sights

Mohamed Salah is inevitable / Carl Recine/GettyImages

He seems to break records every single week, but you know there will be one milestone in particular that Salah will be eyeing before the season is out.

That is the record for assists in a single Premier League season, which stands at 20 and is jointly held by Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry.

After setting up Mac Allister here, Salah is now on 17, and still has another ten games remaining to move past the previous benchmark.

In this form, who would bet against him?

Isak blow told for Newcastle

Having faced an Erling Haaland-less Manchester City at the weekend, Liverpool received a similar slice of luck for this one when it emerged ahead of kick-off that Alexander Isak would miss out with a groin strain.

The Swede's absence clearly hurt Newcastle, who struggled to pose any threat in attack without their talismanic striker involved.

Callum Wilson tried his best, but there is no question that Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate found things far easier than they would have had Isak played.

Fortunately, we will get a chance to find out just how big an influence he can have on this team when the two sides face off again at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final next month.