Andy Robertson hailed three teammates after the Reds beat 1-0 to return to the top of the Premier League.
Naby Keita’s first-half goal was enough to separate the sides at St James’ Park and put the pressure on Liverpool’s title rivals Manchester City, who visit Leeds United later in the day.
Jurgen Klopp made five changes for the league fixture – – with Liverpool .
But the changes did not disrupt a Liverpool side who are chasing a historic quadruple as they beat a spirited Newcastle team to move to 82 points with four league games remaining.
Robertson was delighted to help Liverpool maintain their title challenge and praised his fellow defenders Virgil van Dijk, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez, describing them as ‘different class’.
‘Newcastle worked really hard, they’re in fantastic shape. They’re in the top ten, so we knew it was going to be difficult,’ Robertson told .
‘Luckily we got the goal and I don’t think they had too many chances after that. We had a few to kill the game off but we’re just happy with the three points.
‘Joelinton was causing us a couple of problems early on, but in the second half I thought the lads were excellent against him.
‘They started better than us but then we got a foothold in the game. We got the goal and we got a bit better after that.
‘They didn’t have many chances. I thought the two centre-backs and Joe Gomez were different class.
‘We made five changes today, but the lads that are coming in are putting in big performances. We need that between now and the end of the season.’
Klopp was also full of praise for his Liverpool side after they secured their 25th league win of the season.
The German, who , said: ‘I thought it was a top class game in extremely difficult circumstances. Playing this kind of football.
‘That’s why I’m really happy. You want to win football games and in the best case you deserve to win and we did today 100% against a team in great form in a great atmosphere.’
While Liverpool go marching on, the result at St James’ Park ended Newcastle’s four-game winning run as the Magpies – who were facing relegation earlier in the season – look to finish in the top-half of the Premier League.
Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: ‘I think Liverpool were probably not at their best but we weren’t either and when you play these games you have to be.
‘We competed well but lacked the quality that could have got us a goal. It is difficult to it consistently against Liverpool as they have the quality to produce a counter-attack out of nothing.
‘We were much more aggressive in the second half but did not have any concerted pressure in the game.
‘We were not at our best today but we were still in the game right to the end, so there are positives to take. But we set our standards very high and next week we have to do much better.’
Liverpool travel to Villarreal on Tuesday for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final, while Newcastle return to action next weekend against Manchester City.
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