Liverpool ended a five-game winless Premier League run as Hugo Ekitike’s brace lead the comeback in a 4-1 win over Newcastle United at Anfield.
Newcastle took the lead through Anthony Gordon but a quick-fire Ekitike double turned it around before the break.
Florian Wirtz made it 3-1 on 67 minutes with a low finish before Ibrahima Konate rounded the game in added time.
Liverpool made two changes from Wednesday’s 6-0 Champions League win over Qarabag FK as Milos Kerkez and Konate replaced Andrew Robertson and the injured Jeremie Frimpong.
Newcastle made three changes from their draw at Paris Saint-Germain, bringing in Kieran Trippier, Harvey Barnes and Anthony Gordon with captain Bruno Guimaraes not risked.
The Toon controlled the early stages and had the first chance of the game after 26 minutes as Lewis Hall’s clever back-heeled free kick set up Barnes, whose curler beat Alisson Becker and crashed off the post.
Newcastle deservedly took the lead on 36 minutes as Joe Willock drove forward and found Barnes.
The ball landed at Gordon who fired across Alisson and into the bottom left corner.
The Reds responded well and equalised five minutes later as Florian Wirtz wriggled past two Newcastle defenders and cut the ball back for Ekitike to tap home from six yards out.
Two minutes later, Liverpool turned it around as Alisson’s quick goal kick found Kerkez and his long-ball sent Ekitike away.
The Frenchman drove forward down the left and finished brilliantly with the outside of his right boot from close range to give the Reds the lead with his tenth league goal of the season.
Ekitike should have had a hat-rick on 51 minutes as Dan Burn misjudged Dominik Szoboszlai’s long-ball, but the striker dragged his across-goal shot wide as he closed on goal.
On 67 minutes the Reds made it three as Cody Gakpo found Wirtz central, who knocked it on to Mohamed Salah.
Salah pulled the ball back for Wirtz to hit first-time past Nick Pope into the bottom left corner, with the assist giving Salah the record as the first player to hit double figures for both goals and assists against a single club.
Konate marked his return with the fourth on 93 minutes, tapping home after Pope dropped Szoboszlai’s inswinger corner, with the Frenchman emotional after returning from bereavement.
The result moves Liverpool up to fifth in the Premier League table with their first league win of 2026 as Newcastle drop to tenth, extending their winless Anfield league run to 32 years.
(Featured Image used free under licence from Alamy Images)
