“In hindsight, you would always do things differently,” said Eddie Howe. In hindsight, there is relatively little Newcastle would change about his 21-month reign. Yet for United fans of a certain vintage, Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Liverpool may have had echoes of the 4-3 defeat in 1996, a great game whose greatness can only be appreciated by one side, with the other left to reflect on the possible cost. It is a point of the season where perceptions alter swiftly. If Newcastle produced the outstanding performance of the opening weekend, thrashing Aston Villa 5-1, suggesting they may be the second best team in the country, two weeks later they find themselves level on points with Wolves and in the bottom half of the table. Newcastle, who only lost one of their first 22 league games last season, have been beaten in two of the first three now. The alternative perspective is to note that they lost the same two fixtures – Manchester City away and Liverpool at home – last season, when they also beat Villa by four goals. Arguably no one had a harder group of their first three games (or four, given they visit Brighton next). In their different ways, City and Liverpool represent the barometers of progress for Newcastle – Pep Guardiola’s side because they are the ultimate, Jurgen Klopp’s side because Newcastle lost twice to them last season – and these results imply there has been insufficient progress to defeat either. The manner of the results, however, ought to irritate a manager, even one – in public, anyway – who is as mild-mannered and measured as Howe. There were two types of missed opportunity: at the Etihad Stadium because City were exhausted, three days after the Super Cup, and at St James’ Park because Liverpool were a man down for an hour, a goal behind for almost as long. In each case, a hard-running Newcastle team failed to make a physical advantage count. They were too timid in Manchester, registering a lone shot on target. They were twice inches from a second goal against Liverpool but still lost their way in the second half; a difficulty breaking down a deep, disciplined 4-4-1 formation prompted the thought that Newcastle may regret missing out on James Maddison, the kind of creator they do not possess. Howe’s blueprint worked spectacularly well last season. The amendment to it this year seems simply to entail more of the same. And yet that created an issue itself. In all three games so far, Anthony Gordon has come off for Harvey Barnes. It speaks to a strategy, to exhaust right-backs with one high-speed runner and then replace him with another. It worked perfectly against Villa, with Barnes coming off the bench to score and assist. It was necessitated at City, with Gordon on the brink of a red card when he went off. Arguably, though, it backfired against Liverpool: Gordon was the game’s outstanding player and Trent Alexander-Arnold presumably relieved to see his fellow Scouser depart. Gordon and Barnes may have a job-share, but it doesn’t mean they have to share the minutes every match. As Klopp’s changes made Liverpool better, Howe’s made Newcastle worse. It highlights a wider issue: Newcastle needed more players, now possess greater strength in depth and Howe has to rotate more. But he also needs to know when not to change: nor did Newcastle benefit from removing Joelinton and Sandro Tonali on Sunday. Meanwhile, Bruno Guimaraes, who has been below par at the start of the campaign, stayed on and gave the ball away for Darwin Nunez’s winner. If substitutions for the sake of it scarcely worked, Newcastle face the challenge of keeping the same chemistry from different combinations of players, particularly when the Champions League starts. And if Newcastle seemed to have covered most bases in their summer recruitment drive, the one gap appeared to be at centre-back, where there was a lack of quality alternatives to Fabian Schar and Sven Botman. And then the Dutchman limped off against Liverpool. No team conceded fewer Premier League goals last year than Newcastle, yet it will be hard to be as frugal with a combination of Schar and either Dan Burn or Jamaal Lascelles; indeed, perhaps Burn could have done better for Nunez’s decider. Their defensive additions this summer have been youthful full-backs, in Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento. Now a club with only two clean sheets in 23 games must determine whether, and if they can afford, to pursue a central defender now. All of which brings a shift in feel after the euphoria the evisceration of Villa generated. Newcastle’s recent failings have come within the context of vast, swift improvement: too unambitious against City, not streetwise enough against Liverpool, not seizing the moment in either game. They can note the precedent from last season, when they were condemned to defeat in injury-time by Liverpool and responded with a 17-game unbeaten run. They have a better pool of players now but they may need better decisions, on and off the pitch, than those taken in the last two matches. Read More Eddie Howe reacts to Newcastle’s dramatic defeat by Liverpool Nunez provides a rescue act and a reminder when Liverpool needed it most Newcastle vs Liverpool LIVE: Premier League result and reaction

Andrew Tate supports social media user's assertion about 'pumpkin spice misogyny season'

Connecticut’s public safety commissioner says state lawmakers should expect a federal investigation into a recent audit's findings, which showed hundreds of state troopers provided false information from 2014 to 2021 on at least 26,000 traffic stops

Al-Ettifaq midfielder Jordan Henderson has been named in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the upcoming games against Ukraine and Scotland, but there was no place for Raheem Sterling. The road to next summer’s European Championship continues with a qualifier against Ukraine in Poland on September 9, before playing a friendly in Scotland three days later. Southgate has largely stuck with the tried and tested with his 26-man squad for the double-header, giving call-ups to three regulars with questions over their international roles. England vice-captain Henderson’s move to Saudi club Al-Ettifaq raises questions ahead of the Euros, while former Manchester United captain Harry Maguire and Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips have yet to play a minute of club football this season. Under-21 European Championship winner Levi Colwill received his first formal call-up and uncapped Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah has also got the nod for the first time. There is no place for Chelsea forward Sterling despite a strong start to the campaign. Henderson’s inclusion came after he opted to leave Liverpool for the Saudi Pro League in the summer and Southgate admits he has some concerns looking to the future. Speaking after announcing his squad, Southgate said: “We’ve watched every game, the key as we move forward is going to be the physical intensity of the league, because of the heat as well, whether that is going to allow him to perform at the level we need. “Clearly the level of the league is changing all the time, lots of countries are going to have this issue. Portugal have got a few players there so I’m sure they are going to be playing international football still.” On the decision to select Henderson despite moving to Saudi Arabia and their lack of LGBTQ+ rights, Southgate said: “I think we are supportive of the LGBT+ community, a large number of the team and staff have either relatives or friends from that community. “We have tried to be very supportive but I also accept members of the community felt let down. You have to live your life as you see fit, I can only speak on personal level and what the team represents and I try to be accepting of all cultures and understanding of everyone in different positions. “If there is a feeling we haven’t done enough we have to accept that position, but it is not intentional, but these are all very complex situations that we are trying to do our best to navigate.” The England boss said the door was still open for Sterling to earn a way back into his thoughts and tipped the 82-cap winger to continue his fine start to the campaign. He said: “He was not available for the last two and of course that has given other people the opportunity to play well and establish themselves in the group, it is a difficult call and Raheem isn’t particularly happy about it – I’m convinced he will have a good season at Chelsea, I’ve no doubt about that.” Southgate said of Maguire’s inclusion: “We have lost a lot of experienced players with caps at centre-half, we are giving some less experienced players the opportunity to come into the squad but unfortunately it looks like Tyrone (Mings) is out for the season, (John) Stones is out for this camp, Eric Dier hasn’t been in the Tottenham squad. “There is a space there and I think for these two games it is important we have some experience in that place of the pitch.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Chelsea set to spend as Spurs aim to replace Kane – deadline day talking points Man Utd look for new arrivals on deadline day and Liverpool aim to keep Salah The body still feels good enough – Scotland prop WP Nel has no plans to retire

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A Tel Aviv municipal patrol officer has died, Israeli officials said on Saturday, after being shot by a

Atlanta is going to buy at the trade deadline and we're ranking the 12 best (and realistic) trade targets for the Braves before Aug. 1.The MLB Trade Deadline on Aug. 1 is now just over a week away, and all eyes in the National League are at least glancing at the Atlanta Braves. Owners of th...

By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON The Democratic and Republican leaders of the U.S. Senate expressed support for continued assistance

Corey Seager hit two homers and drove in five runs as the AL West-leading Texas Rangers beat the slumping Los Angeles Angels 7-3

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez are often spotted on vacations together and even engaging in PDA

'RHOA' Season 15 viewers could expect heated-up drama between Drew Siora and Ralph Pittman

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission will take the first step in a legal challenge against Poland over a Polish law

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he would have walked off the pitch with Vinicius Junior if the Brazilian had chosen to stop playing after receiving racist insults as their...