Liverpool vs Newcastle: Preview & Prediction

One senses that Newcastle are counting down the days until January and the transfer window opening because nothing has changed at the club since Mike Ashley was bought out and Steve Bruce was sacked. There could be some hope for the second half of the season given that Newcastle will have money to plough into the team but for now they are trying to keep their heads above water.

 

At the weekend it was another loss but this time a battering as they were defeated 4-0 by Leicester, this means that the Magpies are in 19th place though would be bottom if not for goal difference. If it were not for Watford the gap to safety would be six points but it remains at three so there is hope for Newcastle and the other teams in the relegation zone.

 

Eddie Howe's side have just 1 win this season, though there has been hints of improvements since he took over and of course he did preside over their only win this season so far which came at home to Burnley in a 1-0 win. But this game looks a write off even before the first whistle has been blown.

 

Liverpool don't need much motivation to win games but Manchester City have already played and won their midweek game and have gone four points clear so it is time for Liverpool to respond to that. The Reds have been pretty much devastating this season and especially at home and they are about to face one of the poorest sides in the league so this does look like a home banker.

 

The Reds are unbeaten at home and have won their last 3 games here, with just five goals conceded at home only Manchester City have a better record. Liverpool's last home game finished in a close 1-0 victory over Aston Villa but with former great Steven Gerrard returning as manager of Villa emotions would have been running high. In some ways it was a perfect result for Liverpool, to get the three points but not to embarrass Gerrard either. Liverpool will also notice that Chelsea could go past them on the same night if they drop points here so they will as ever be focused and hungry to win this game.

 

 

 

Liverpool: Roberto Firmino is being tipped to return for this game but has a lack of match fitness and will need to be assessed. Curtis Jones has been out for some time now with his eye injury and with no update we should presume he will miss out once again. Divock Origi will face a test after his knee injury which isn't being regarded at this point as being serious.

 

Newcastle: Elliot Anderson has a knock and looks like he will miss another game. Paul Dummett is still out with his calf, Fernandez is out with a thigh injury.

 

 

Liverpool vs Newcastle Head to Head:

 

Last season this fixture ended 1-1.

 

Liverpool have won five from the last seven meetings against Newcastle.

 

Newcastle haven't won at Liverpool for 26 years.

 

 

 

Last season these two teams drew both of their games which was 2 points gained for Newcastle. But let's not go down that path as this is usually a game that Liverpool win and Newcastle have a very poor record here. We do expect a home victory and Liverpool should be able to score a few goals to boot. With all due respect to Newcastle there is certainly a gulf in quality and ambition between the sides and we expect Liverpool to run riot.

 

Backing Liverpool to win seems like a no no based on their price which is very short, so the value is going to lie in the goalscorers market. Mohamed Salah seems a given but gives no value at odds of 1.36, so we should also look into Sadio Mane who remains a danger even if he isn't scoring as many goals as we would have expected, as well as Diogo Jota. A cheeky choice could be Virgil van Dijk and one of the reasons is that defenders get up more for set pieces against weaker sides and van Dijk isn't completely goal shy either, not for a defender. As for Newcastle this is a game about defending and we don't expect to see much of them as an attacking force.

 

 

 

Anytime goalscorer: Diogo Jota at 1.80

 

Anytime goalscorer: Sadio Mane at 1.80

 

Liverpool to score 3+ goals at 1.53