Newcastle 1-0 Liverpool: 7 Biggest Factors In Unexpected Victory

6. Rodgers' Perseverence Vs Paul Dummett's Back Pocket

Paul Dummett has deserved some of the criticism he's received in the past - his positional sense has been poor, his passing limited and his attacking threat non-existent, but it's all forgiven as it's been admitted he's a centre-back - but he deserves all the credit in the world for his performance on Saturday. Brendan Rodgers must have been rubbing his hands with glee when he saw Dummett's name at left-back, despite his manager admitting he shouldn't really be playing there, and he intended to exploit the defender by putting Raheem Sterling out wide on the right, rather than in the middle. Unfortunately for Rodgers, because Dummett wasn't asked to go forward, his mind was completely occupied by defending, and because Sterling singularly failed to make any real attempt to get round him, he was able to defend like a centre-back. The England man accidentally played into his hands - thanks in part to the close attention he was getting from Sammy Ameobi, and then Rolando Aarons - attempting just two take ons, both snubbed out, and forcing just three tackles (two won by Dummett, and one resulting in a foul). But Rodgers ignored the fact that Dummett wasn't budging, and continued to try and use Sterling there, instead of shifting his position, and Sterling rewarded him with an awful 64% passing rate. He wasn't even in the game.