Eddie Howe reacts to Liverpool stat with Newcastle reality’ plea

EDDIE Howe insists his Newcastle side didn’t leave themselves too defensively exposed at Anfield on Monday night, despite the fact Liverpool broke a Premier League attacking record on the way to their 4-2 victory over the Magpies.

Liverpool’s expected goals of 7.27 against United was the highest every recorded in a single Premier League game and their 34 shots on goal is the joint-highest in the top flight this season.

That Jurgen Klopp’s side only scored four was down to the brilliance of Martin Dubravka in Newcastle’s goal, and while Howe was disappointed with the goals conceded, he didn’t think there was a structural issue.

“I don’t necessarily think we were open,” he said.

“It doesn’t help when you concede two penalties, the xG of the penalties itself is huge, two penalties one that I didn’t think was and the other was very soft.

“Of course there are other moments where we didn’t defend well enough. They had a lot of long shots as well.

“It’s difficult for me to comment now, I’d have to watch it back, but they are a team who examine you in every way. You know you’re going to come under pressure and will concede chances, but I need to reflect on those moments.”

Newcastle have now conceded seven goals in their last two Premier League games, but asked whether he’s concerned about the defence, Howe said: “There’s more to it because people will naturally look at the goalkeeper and the back four but it’s the whole team functioning well and I don’t want to sit and make excuses because you’ll be tired of writing it but we do have half our team out and that’s the reality.

“That will make a difference. Today, how many attacking players could I change in running? It’s a difficult situation.”

He added: “I don’t think we were as good as we wanted to be with the ball. We gave the ball away under pressure too much and the times we were good enough to play around their press we did give them problems. We scored two goals at one of the toughest places to play in the Premier League, we’d have taken that before the game. Our defensive performance needed to be better to win the game.”