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

3. Not Pressing As High

The single biggest tactical victory Newcastle won against Liverpool was in their reluctance to play the way Liverpool wanted them to. Shifting to their usual 3 at the back formation in possession, Liverpool expected the Magpies to attack and press from the front, dragging Cisse and Sissoko and allowing Joe Allen and Steven Gerrard lots of space. That would then drag Mehdi Abeid and Jack Colback out and open the space in front of defence that Henderson and Coutinho could punish. But Newcastle's high pressing never came - Cisse did some, but he and Sissoko rigidly stuck closer to Allen and Gerrard in the first half. And while Gerrard did have a little success with his long cross-field balls behind the defence, it led to nothing, and the threat through the middle was nullified by Newcastle's patient commitment to their defensive shape.