Shortly before kick-off at Anfield, the television cameras homed in on two figures chatting near the stadium tunnel.
Injured skipper Jordan Henderson was chewing the fat with Virgil van Dijk when the defender delivered a salute down the lens.
Ninety minutes later — as Liverpool ceded control to Newcastle and eventually blew a hole in their own top-four hopes — the shadow of their defensive general loomed large once more. So goes one of football’s oldest truisms: a player is never more valuable than when they are injured.
Liverpool haven't been the same attacking threat that they were during last season
But the worry for Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool?