Liverpool picked up their second consecutive victory in a 2-0 win over Newcastle United at St James’ Park last night, and Jurgen Klopp will be thrilled with the way that his team controlled the game throughout.

The Reds rise up the Premier League table to eighth, just six points off the top four with a game in hand following their win in the northeast, showing promising signs that a Champions League qualifying berth is still in sight for the club by the end of the season.

Despite being away from home to a team who had only suffered one league defeat all season up to that point, Liverpool dominated possession (63%), had more shots on target (7 v 4), created more big chances (4 v 3) and completed far more passes (530 v 281), and they are growing in confidence ahead of their clash against Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.

It was a dramatic first half, with Liverpool getting off to a rapid start as Darwin Nunez found the net in the 10th minute to break the deadlock, with the lead quickly doubled by Cody Gakpo in the 17th minute.

Newcastle suffered a severe blow to their chances of a comeback when Nick Pope was shown a straight red card for handling the ball outside of the penalty area to deny Mohamed Salah a goal-scoring opportunity just five minutes after the second goal was netted.

In the second half, it seemed that both teams went into second gear with little to reflect on other than Klopp giving recent returnees Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota the opportunity to stretch their legs in order to see out the match at St James’ Park.

There was one player in particular who ran the show under the floodlights in Newcastle, with Trent Alexander-Arnold dominating throughout to help secure the crucial points needed to keep Liverpool’s top-four hopes alive.

How did Trent Alexander-Arnold play against Newcastle?

The England right-back got stuck in from kick-off and every piece of positive progressive play seemingly came from Alexander-Arnold throughout the game.

During his 90 minutes of action, the 24-year-old – whose passing range was dubbed “sublime” by journalist Matt Addison – had a whopping 103 touches, completed 64 passes and created two big chances. He also played four key passes, succeeded with 100% of his dribbles and made three clearances (as per Sofascore), proving to be potent in attack and defensively sound.

The highlight of his night came early as he provided a sumptuous assist for Nunez’s opening goal.

This sudden turnaround in performances for Liverpool could not have come at a better time for Klopp and his team, as the confidence shown in the last two games will surely give them a massive boost when they host the Champions League holders at Anfield next week.

The Anfield faithful will be hopeful that the performance last night, from the team and from Alexander-Arnold in particular, has set the tone for what is to come over the remainder of a season which now looks as if it might yet conclude with a top-four finish.