Top-four chasing Newcastle United face Liverpool in a huge Premier League clash.
Victory would see Newcastle stay fourth in the table whilst Liverpool can go seventh with a win if Brentford fail to win elsewhere.
Team News
Joe Willock is a doubt for Newcastle after he suffered a hamstring injury in their 1-1 draw at Bournemouth last weekend, and manager – Eddie Howe could opt to leave him out with one eye on next weekend’s Carabao Cup Final.
Callum Wilson (hamstring), Allan Saint Maximin (knee), Miguel Almiron (hand) and Jamaal Lascelles (personal) could all be in contention for selection.
Javier Manquillo (unspecified), Matt Targett (heel), Emil Krafth (knee) and Bruno Guimaraes (suspension) remain ruled out.
Liverpool could welcome Virgil Van Dijk back into contention for the starting line-up, after he was named as an eventual unused substitute in their Merseyside derby win over Everton having missed their last seven matches with a hamstring injury.
Calvin Ramsay (knee), Ibrahima Konate (muscle), Thiago Alcantara (hip), Arthur Melo (thigh) and Luis Diaz (knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Newcastle will host Liverpool in a 5:30pm GMT kick-off at St James’ Park on Saturday 18 February, live on Sky Sports in UK.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle are winless in each of their last 12 previous Premier League meetings against Liverpool (D4, L8).
- Liverpool are unbeaten in their last five Premier League visits to Newcastle (W3, D2).
- Both Newcastle and Liverpool have scored in three of their last four meetings, except for a 1-0 Liverpool win on Tyneside in April 2022.
- Newcastle have kept clean sheets in five of their last six league matches at home (W4, D2).
- Liverpool have conceded three goals in each of their three league matches away from home in 2023 (L3), across which they only scored once – in a 3-1 loss at Brentford.
Prediction
With Arsenal currently having hit a rut, Newcastle have certainly wasted a real opportunity to stake their claim in the title race with three consecutive draws which realistically leaves a top-four finish as their most important challenge until end of season.
Eddie Howe’s Magpies though will need to show more quality than they did at Bournemouth because their defence did struggle at times with the Cherries’ tight but quick attacks, whilst their own attack lacked creativity despite scraping a draw.
Liverpool meanwhile finally look like they have stopped stuttering and finall found some fresh breath, because they were clinical and energetically aggressive on the counter-attack against Everton but this is now an acid test of whether they’ve genuinely improved or if it was just a slice of magic.
Jurgen Klopp though will surely have Tuesday’s Champions League clash against Real Madrid on his mind, seeing as winning that competition might well be their best bet for qualification next season if they fail to finish in the top four in the league this season.
I therefore do anticipate a tough game for both teams but Newcastle might have one eye on next week’s dream trip to Wembley, yet this is a chance to build some momentum in front of home crowd with a win to launch that journey south packed with belief.
A draw though does feel like a fair bet because both teams do have distractions brewing over this match, which could influence tactics and team selections.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-1 Liverpool
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