Mohamed Salah lives up to his promise to tee up Liverpool title procession

At 9.22pm, as Newcastle United’s Callum Wilson was receiving lengthy treatment, a decent cheer reverberated around Anfield, followed by a chant that was once very familiar.

“Now are you going to believe us? We are going to win the league.”

During the break in early second half play, word had gone around that Arsenal had only drawn at the City Ground, meaning Liverpool would go 13 points clear if they went on to win this game.

Soon after, Alexis Mac Allister doubled Liverpool’s lead and what has tried to pass for a title race over these past few weeks officially became a lap of honour. It’s done, it’s dusted, bookmakers can do that gimmicky thing of paying out early.

Liverpool winning a 20th top-flight title is a formality - just as this bloodless win over a rival that is meant to have its own title aspirations was a formality. Considering Liverpool had won 23 of their previous 28 Premier League home matches against Newcastle - drawing the other five - the chances of Eddie Howe’s side winning at Anfield were slim and none.

And slim rode out of town when Howe decided a minor groin issue would prevent Alexander Isak from taking part in proceedings. As if he needs any help, Virgil van Dijk has been spared the test of Erling Haaland and Isak in the space of four days.

Not that Van Dijk and his partner, Ibrahima Konate, were foot-perfect, far from it. And had Isak been the player presented with the sort of opportunities spurned so emphatically by Callum Wilson, the outcome of this contest might have been different.

Instead, Newcastle never really looked as though they believed there was a way back into the game after Dominik Szoboszlai’s early strike. In fact, the away team’s defending for the first goal summed up their unconvincing performance in the first half.

Luis Diaz was given far too much freedom to enjoy himself on the left flank and when Szoboszlai connected decently - but not meatily - with the assist, two Newcastle defenders failed to intercept his assist and Nick Pope fell to the ground like diseased timber in a comical bid to keep it out of his net.

To say it was a soft goal was an understatement. But it typified a display from a Newcastle side that will now be even bigger underdogs when the two teams meet in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley in just over a fortnight’s time.

Of course, Isak should feature on that day but so, hopefully, should Salah - and there is no more potent game-changer in football right now. There had been the odd, very vague hint that Newcastle might get back into the game before Salah picked up possession soon after the hour mark and teed up Mac Allister for a sweet strike that confirmed the formality.

In a TV interview ahead of the match, Salah had said how he was deriving as much pleasure from helping his team-mates look good as he was from looking good himself. Or words to that effect. And at times towards the end of this win, it was easy to believe him.

But what we can all definitely believe is what the Liverpool fans told us during that break in play. They are going to win the league.

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