Wednesday saw Newcastle extend their winless Premier League run at Anfield to 29 games - failing to register a single shot on target in the absence of Alexander Isak.

United's top scorer missed out with what was described as a slight groin strain, Callum Wilson recalled to start his first league game since May 2024 and lasting 69 minutes William Osula appeared.

Wilson had two shots - one offside - without testing home goalkeeper Allison - but otherwise 3,000 Toon fans endured another 90 tedious minutes on a par with the last away game at Manchester City.

The Magpies had actually taken the lead on three of their last five visits to Anfield before succumbing to Liverpool attacks, but tonight's outcome was never in doubt after the opening 11 minutes.

Fabian Schar failed to stop Luis Diaz advancing down the left and when the Colombian cut the ball back from the byline, Dominik Szoboszlai scored Liverpool's 100th goal this season with a shot that went through two sets of legs and took a slight deflection off Burn before beating Nick Pope.

Further home goals could have followed; Newcastle's perpetual nemesis Mo Salah getting away from Lewis Hall for once and cutting in from the right to fire narrowly over from distance.

At the other end, a perfect through ball from Dan Burn released Wilson but he sliced the ball wide with only Alisson between him and the Kop End net.

United did find some space down their right flank in the opening half, but Jacob Murphy struggled to provide service from that area and received little help from his colleagues, Bruno Guimaraes in particular a non-entity and Anthony Gordon continually hassled by opponents and home fans alike.

One behind at the interval, neither side made any real impact in an uneventful opening to the second period, before the Reds moved closer to claiming the title with a second goal just after the hour mark - as challengers Arsenal were dropping points at Nottingham Forest.

Alexis Mac Allister began the move after Sandro Tonali surrendered possession and the Argentinean was in the right place to receive a return pass from Salah in the box, stylishly sweeping home.

That prompted the replacement of four visiting players - messrs Wilson, Tonali, Livramento and Willock making way for Osula, Miley, Trippier and Barnes.

A third home goal was then wiped out by VAR for a foul before Pope denied Salah. The visitors meanwhile won a couple of corners that were easily dealt with before the full time whistle sounded, leaving the victors ten points clear at the top of the league.
 
As a dress rehearsal for next month's Carabao Cup Final next month, those clad in black and white tonight gave no grounds for optimism that our 70 year quest for silverware search is in any danger of ending soon.

The return of Isak, Joelinton and Sven Botman may lessen our chances of becoming the first team ever to lose all of their three League Cup Finals, but we'll have to show rather more fight there than in this dreary display.

Despite conceding an early goal again, United should have gone in level at half-time against a Reds side who did enough to win without overly exerting themselves. 

They may be the best on the planet, but tonight they only needed to be competent. Maybe we're just lulling them into a false sense of security, maybe....

Like visits to the Etihad, coming to Anfield is a uniformly miserable experience when we seem to be a beaten team before the first whistle sounds. Sadly, that also applies to Wembley...

Wins for Chelsea and Manchester City left Newcastle sixth with 44 points - two places and four points better off than last season, but three places and six points behind their 2023 totals. 

Eleven games remain to be played in what is an increasingly tight Premier League table -  Eddie Howe's side sitting four points off third spot but only two points ahead of tenth. Eight of the ten games against sides currently above us have been played, which is a slight relief.

Biffa