Liverpool will face Newcastle United again in less than three weeks, and while Alexander Isak will likely be playing in that one, the template for Wembley has been set. Indeed, Arne Slot has long established it at Anfield.
From the off against Newcastle, the Dutchman's side clicked into gear. Luis Diaz was gliding past opponents at will down the left flank, Mohamed Salah was — albeit fleetingly — showing flashes of what he can do, and in midfield, Ryan Gravenberch, and Alexis Mac Allister kept things compact while Dominik Szoboszlai ran another marathon.
No one in red produced their best or most complete performance of the campaign, but they didn't need to. Newcastle was contained, Anthony Gordon was blunted, and the goals — via a Salah moment or otherwise — were always going to come.
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It is the blueprint that Slot has sought to establish from day one: controlled, in possession in the main, and without the excitement (or heart attacks) of Jurgen Klopp's end-to-end, full-throttle style. Liverpool was dominant against Newcastle and it picked up its 11th 2-0 win of the season in all competitions.
That scoreline — with a couple of goals making the final third of the game comfortable and a clean sheet for an impressive defense — is a scoreline that champions repeat, given it offers a rest inside matches and ample breathing space. Liverpool, you would imagine, will produce it again before the season is out.
On this occasion, it was often Diaz igniting the Liverpool attack — and Anfield — with his dribbling. No one on the field created more chances than he did (five), and only one of his runs with the ball ended in him being dispossessed. The only thing missing for the Colombian was a goal, which he nearly got when he got on the end of Salah's low cross late in the second half.
Diaz has created something of a conundrum for Slot now. The Liverpool boss has four forwards who are impressing at the moment — Diaz, Salah, Diogo Jota, and Cody Gakpo — and he must find a way of fitting them all in. There are lots of games coming, of course, but none will want to be benched for glamor ties with the likes of PSG.
Here, Jota was not spectacular, but he showed the kind of relentless buzzing energy that Darwin Nunez has been lacking. He dropped deep to link things up and was able to put in a performance that suggests he should be in the starting XI more often again soon. The only thing that might stop him from nailing down the number nine berth again is Slot preferring Gakpo and Diaz.
Jota, who began the season as the first-choice down the middle of the attack, played well enough to keep his place. But that would mean the dilemma of picking between Diaz and Gakpo — two in-form players who are best off the left.
Behind them, Szoboszlai was superb again, somehow keeping up his energy levels to sprint right until the final whistle. He has played the full 90 minutes five times in just over two weeks now, and remarkably — not least considering the image of him collapsed on the floor at the Etihad Stadium just three days ago — he has never stopped.
Szoboszlai is now up to six goals and six assists this season. His productivity is increasing and his off-the-ball work — as much as that might not always stand out as much as it has this week — makes him a shoo-in. In this form, he is undroppable (as his now-12 consecutive starts suggest).
Defensively, Liverpool looked solid again with Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk untested — relatively — by the stand-in for Isak, Callum Wilson. All across the field, the Reds looked confident and steady, backed by a crowd with no nerves — just defiance.
It is offering the perfect blend ahead of the run-in. With such a buffer at the top of the table and Arsenal stumbling, Liverpool is going to win the league. The Kop knows it, and deep down the players and Slot will too.
