Tribalfootball.com's tactical expert Connor Holden breaks down how a 10-man Liverpool managed to stun Newcastle United in the final minutes and leave Tyneside on Sunday with all three points...

In a game of big decisions, and big occasions, Liverpool managed to mount a comeback at St James Park, coming from behind to win 2-1 in the final minutes on Sunday

This game had many different aspects to it, including some tactical decisions made by Newcastle manager Eddie Howe to get the advantage over Liverpool in the first half. There were also some big decisions for the referee, including an early shout for Trent Alexander Arnold to be sent off, followed by Virgil Van Dijk being shown his marching orders.

But in the end the game was won on the individual brilliance of Darwin Nunez - his introduction from the bench brought Newcastle something different to worry about. The hosts had rarely been troubled all game long.

THE NEWCASTLE PRESS

There was a clear emphasis on Newcastle's press to tilt Liverpool towards the left-hand side. Once they achieved forcing Liverpool to build towards their left side of the pitch, that was the trigger point for Newcastle to be more aggressive and force a turnover on that side of the field.

Kieran Trippier would push high up on Luis Diaz, and Sandro Tonali would be aggressive with the midfielder on this side for Liverpool (often Alexis Mac Allister).

The aggressive nature of Newcastle's two number 8s (Tonali and Joelinton) was key to the pressing power of Newcastle. As once that pressing trigger was activated with the ball travelling to the left side of the pitch, these two midfielders would look to use their strength and power to force a turnover and quickly turn defence to attack.

In the second half, when Liverpool were down to 10 men after the sending off of Virgil Van Dijk, Newcastle had a lot more of the ball, which changed the state of the game.

Liverpool would try to go more direct, rather than playing from the back at every opportunity. This allowed Trippier to drift more freely in possession for Newcastle, inverting into midfield and getting on the ball more.

Newcastle's plan was simple throughout, forcing Liverpool into uncomfortable areas, and using their physicality to gain the edge, once they had Liverpool where they wanted them (by design).

LIVERPOOL AND DARWIN INDIVIDUAL BRILLIANCE

Despite going down to 10 men, Liverpool managed to stay in the game, with some top class saves from Allison, including a tip onto the crossbar towards the end of the first half.

The fact Liverpool stayed in the game, and kept the scoreline at 1-0, meant they had their chance late in the match. And it was the substitute Darwin Nunez who changed the game for Liverpool, and gave Newcastle a different problem to solve.

The addition of Nunez to the equation meant that Newcastle had a natural striker to attend to in central areas. Where before they had been dealing with predominantly wide players throughout the game, with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo.

Nunez came in and pressed the Newcastle back line from the off, causing them to rush their build up in the first phase. He also continually made runs in behind the Newcastle backline, turning their heads and causing them to run back towards goal.

Both goals came from balls in behind the right central defender for Newcastle, with Nunez running off of the shoulder and striking towards the far bottom corner, across goal, on both occasions.

This change of intensity, set by the addition of Nunez in the frontline, with his constant pressing, running in behind and overall tenacity is what caught Newcastle off guard and won Liverpool the game. His ability to make something out of nothing caused mayhem for the opposition defence.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, Newcastle's press caused Liverpool a lot of problems throughout the first half, and was inevitably what caused the game to swing in their favour, going 1-0 up from Anthony Gordan pressing the Liverpool defence.

When Liverpool went down to 10 men, the gamestate meant that Newcastle had more of the ball, and were more relaxed due to this, Liverpool had struggled to get back in the game, and had to make several changes.

This was where Darwin Nunez changed the match, bringing his tenacity and intensity to the game, catching Newcastle off guard (in their more relaxed state) and scoring a brace to win the clash 2-1.

Individual brilliance and a change in attacking profile from manager Jurgen Klopp was the storyline of this comeback for Liverpool.