Monday, December 7, 3am AEDT, St James’ Park, Watch on Fox Sports
Table position
Newcastle: 19th
Liverpool: sixth
Season record
Newcastle: 2-8-4
Liverpool: 6-3-5
Last five games
Newcastle: LLWDL
Liverpool: WWLWD
THE signing of German master manager Jurgen Klopp appears to have saved Liverpool’s season, the powerhouse club claiming three wins in its past four starts.
But the Reds’ ($1.60 with WilliamHill.com.au) trip to Newcastle ($5.50 with WilliamHill.com.au) (Draw is $4) to take on the lowly Magpies may not be the walk in St James’ Park they might hope it will be.
See what we did there?
Anyway, back to the football and Liverpool will be buoyant after its smashing of Southampton in the Capitol One Cup 6-1 yesterday morning, which continued its strong streak of results over the past month.
A hat-trick from Divock Origi capped off a first half brace from Daniel Sturridge in a dominant performance away from home.
The brilliant display of counter attacking dominance, coupled with ball movement that Arsenal would have been proud of, would have definitely warmed Klopp’s heart.
But he knows he has a job to do against a side that had hoped he would manage them earlier in the year.
Especially after the form the Reds have enjoyed in the league, which features wins over former powerhouse Chelsea, title favourite Manchester City and then most recently a 1-0 win over Swansea.
It was hard nosed midfielder James Milner who ensured victory for Liverpool, slotting from the penalty spot for the second match in succession, giving Klopp his first victory in front of the Kop.
Lliverpool dominated, but just couldn’t find the final pass or land the finishing blow until the Swans’ Neil Taylor was pinged for handling Jordan Ibe’s ball into the box, the resultant penalty expertly placed by Milner, past a desperate Lukas Fabianski.
“Swansea defended very well,” Klopp said.
“They had some problems in the last few games but they were more compact.
“I am proud of the lads.
“It is a good result in difficult circumstances.”
A good result indeed and the Reds will be hoping to continue that against a side that might be on the bottom of the ladder, but actually defeated them the last time they visited Tyneside.
In that clash, it was an Ayoze Perez strike that consigned Liverpool to a 1-0 loss.
But the joy of a 1-0 away win at Bournemouth has quickly soured again, with feeble losses to first Leicester, 3-0, and then Crystal Palace, which whacked the Magpies 5-1.
They looked like they came to play after Papiss Demba Cisse slotted in the 10th minute to give them a 1-0 lead.
But that’s when the collective wheels fell off the Newcastle train, Palace lighting up Selhurst Park with three goals before half time to effectively kill off the contest.
For some reason, embattled manager Steve McCLaren focussed on the fourth goal of the contest as the back breaker.
“We made individual errors, the killer goal was the fourth,” McClaren said, as if the three goals before hand were not enough.
“We wanted a reaction, I think we got that.
“The players were focused, we made some errors.
“It is about working for each other, winning your duels and after the third goal we didn’t do that, we can’t have that, it is disappointing.
”We have to bring the fans what they want and that is not it.
“We have 25 games to go, we are in a relegation fight, no doubt about that, but we have to work hard on the training field.
“You are going to get adversity, we have lots of experience of losing games.
“We knew it would be difficult.
“We have had 13 games, we know where we are.
“We have 25 games and have this group to work for.
”That us not us, that is not Newcastle United, that is not what we expect, what the fans expect. That is not good enough.“
Spoken like a true manager, worrying about his job.
It’s ugly viewing for Newcastle supporters and has McLaren hanging by a thread – an ominous sign, considering the last time he faced off against a side managed by Klopp resulted in him losing his job.
That was five years ago, when both men were managing German clubs, Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund rolling to a 3-0 win that saw McClaren given his marching orders only hours later.
Could history repeat itself?
It’s very possible, considering Newcastle has been leaking goals and the Reds have gotten over the funk they were in at the start of the season to slot nine goals in their past four games.
It could be a bloodbath.
This fixture has the highest goals per match average of any match up in Premier League history, with 132 goals in 42 matches equating to an average of more than three very time these two teams step onto St James’ Park.
Dutch midfielder Siem De Jong says the relegation bound Newcastle side has been embarrassed by its recent performances and wants his team to more to stay in games, rather than get thrashed like they have been this season.
“Everybody knows it should be better and we are all ashamed and disappointed,” De Jong said.
“Everybody knows that we need to work hard to get out of this.
“We need to stay focused and not let these things happen again.”
The Reds have actually won their last four away games – another bad sign for Newcastle, which has won just one of its last seven home league matches.
This is a classic case of relegation battler versus top four hopeful.
We’d like to think it’s a clean cut win to Liverpool, but stranger things have happened.
Possible line ups
Newcastle: Robert Elliot, Chance Mbemba, Daryl Janmaat, Fabricio Colloccini, Paul Dummet, Jack Colback, Vernon Anita, Moussa Sissoko, Georginho Wijnaldum, Ayoze Perez, Papiss Cisse
Liverpool: Simon Mignolet, Nathaniel Clyne, Martin Skrtel, Dejan Lovren, Alberto Moreno, James Milner, Lucas Leiva, Adam Lallana, Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho, Christian Benteke
Predictions
Match result: Liverpool wins ($1.60 with WilliamHill.com.au)
Correct score: 3-0 ($12 with WilliamHill.com.au)
Total match goals: Over 2.5 ($1.70 with WilliamHill.com.au)
After a horrible start to the season Liverpool has turned it around under Klopp and finds itself just four points outside the top four. But strong showings against Arsenal (1-0 loss), Manchester United and Chelsea (both draws) will have given Newcastle some confidence that they can match it with the in form Reds. We don’t share that confidence though, especially with the way Liverpool has been playing away from home. The Reds are becoming some what road warriors and that spells dire trouble for Newcastle. With Sturridge back, Roberto Firmino flying and a defence led by the hard nosed Martin Skrtel, they should have far too much in the tank to drop this one against the Magpies. If there’s one fixture you go the overs on, it’s this one. As we’ve already mentioned, it is historically the highest scoring fixture in Premier League history – it just about guarantees goals. While we don’t think Newcastle will trouble the scorers, that won’t matter, because Liverpool has plenty of goals in it and it should be able to cover the line by itself.
First goal scorer predictions
Newcastle
Ayoze Perez ($10 with WilliamHill.com.au)
Has been a brighter light in a bleak season and the big clubs have taken notice. The 22 year old has had strong interest from both the Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Tottenham and, considering Newcastle has always been a selling club under much maligned manager Mike Ashley, his days on Tyneside could be numbered. But he will suit up against Liverpool and that means he is a serious threat to make an impact on this match with the first goal. He scored the match winner against Bournemouth in the Toon’s most recent win this season and he was the man who plunged the dagger into the heart of Liverpool the last time they visited St James’ Park. The history is there for him to do it again.
Georginio Wijnaldum ($12 with WilliamHill.com.au)
Newcastle supporters thought they might have unlocked the talents of the next Premier League great when Wijnaldum slotted a ridiculous four goals past Norwich in a 6-2 win recently. It hasn’t quite panned out that way. But we’re definitely not giving up on him. This kid has talent to burn and bit back hard at Newcastle legend Kevin Keegan when he suggested the players didn’t care about the results. That shows both balls and passion, which this kid has in spades and he has been touted as a future captain of the club by McClaren. We reckon he’s as good a hope as any one to fire in the first goal for a Newcastle side that may struggle to get on the board at all.
Liverpool
Divock Origi ($6 with WilliamHill.com.au)
Scoring form is good form and Origi has that in spades after banging in a hat-trick against Southampton midweek. When Liverpool lost Firmino, Benteke and Sturridge to injury earlier in the season, every one called on him to sign a striker. But he resisted the urge, putting his faith in Origi who he says every one forgot about. While the youngster didn’t set the world on fire early, he looks to be rounding into some serious form and if his last outing is anything to go by, he could be the man to provide the fire works against Newcastle.
Daniel Sturridge ($5 with WilliamHill.com.au)
Gun English striker Sturridge has been sorely missed by Liverpool, but he came back with a bang against Southampton, bagging two goals in the first half to effectively kill off the contest, before Origi went off. This is a rock solid tip – he has more goals across his career against Newcastle, with six, and four of those have come in his past three games against the Magpies. He scores for fun every time he sees the black and white stripes and, with the way he finished against Southampton mid week, we’re expecting him to get on the board again.
