There’s been a momentum shift on Tyneside after what can only be described as an awful week for Newcastle United, with a dismal 2-0 defeat to West Ham followed by an equally poor draw at Crystal Palace where we arguably deserved nothing.
Before last month’s international break and the two games mentioned above, we saw signs of serious improvement thanks to three-straight wins over Chelsea, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
As those two homes games proved, we ironically have no problem performing against the ‘big boys’ at St James’ Park, where we’ve also beaten Spurs and held Man City to a 1-1 draw so far this season. The issues centre around or inability to beat those we should, with us failing to pick up three points against Bournemouth, Fulham Everton, Brighton, West Ham and Crystal Palace, scoring just three goals across those six games.
However, while our clash with top-of-the-table Liverpool may not define our season or answer the big questions around our ability to create, score and beat those ‘lesser’ sides, it would be huge for Howe if we could end our nine-year wait for a win over the Reds.
Howe’s pre-match comments
Howe on the last two games – “I think when you go back to the last two games we’ve had – West Ham we really created a lot of chances, especially in that first 60 minutes. And I thought we looked like a really good team but we didn’t take them.
“Palace was different. What I said after the game; once we’d scored and we were leading the game, we’ve done our job to that point. As much as we still want to score, we want to go two nil up, the game had never been a free flowing performance from us. And if we’d won the game one nil, we’d have said that was a brilliant sort of away day for us where we didn’t play well but we got a great win.
“We didn’t defend the cross well enough and then the whole focus comes back on sort of the performance with the ball. Our attacking output was very low. We’re not going to deny that or hide that so certainly we’re looking at a few things and trying to make tweaks”
Howe on criticism – “I’ve no doubt that criticism is out there – it’s out there all the time. But it’s magnified if you’re not performing at your best. You expect it, understand it and live with it. It doesn’t really change anything I do.
“I am constantly analysing the team to see if we can tweak things. If anyone thinks I’m sat there going, ‘We’re going to do the same thing every week’ then nothing could be further from the truth!”
Howe on Liverpool – “Liverpool are very good, very strong – what a week they have had against Real Madrid and Manchester City. Their players are playing well – we are going to need to put in a good defensive performance and pose them questions going forward as well.
“There is an excitement about the game, and to attack a game like this will be a brilliant thing.We have to bring our strengths, and our strengths are unique to us.”
Team news
Alexander Isak (hip) passed himself fit to play in an interview with beIN Sports on Monday, but Howe said on Tuesday morning that he’s yet to train and will have to manage the pain to start against the Reds.
Dan Burn (ankle) has had limited training time but should be OK to go again. However, Emil Krafth (collarbone), Sven Botman (ACL) and Jamaal Lascelles (ACL) will miss out.
For Liverpool, they’ll be missing six senior players. Centre-back Ibrahima Konate is ruled out, meaning Joe Gomez should start alongside Virgil van Dijk, while Alisson, Jota, Conor Bradley, Kostas Tsimikas and Federico Chiesa will also miss out.
Predicted XI
(4-3-3): Pope – Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall – Longstaff, Bruno, Tonali – Joelinton, Isak, Gordon.
The defence picks itself for now, although there may come a point where Howe opts for Trippier’s experience and quality in possession, which we’ve missed from a control and creative perspective against sides we should be beating.
Midfield is the tough one. This is the sort of game Longstaff will start for his diligent work off the ball, Tonali surely needs a run in the side – he was one of few to impress at Palace – and Bruno’s quality and fight is needed in games like this.
It would be a risk from Howe to mix it up in midfield, but Willock has been poor of late and rarely starts twice in four days after his injury issues, while Joelinton may be needed out wide if Howe continues to go without Barnes, Murphy or Almiron from the off. Also, it’s worth noting that we beat PSG 4-1 with a midfield three of Longstaff, Bruno and Tonali…
I expect Isak to be OK and I think we could see Gordon move back to his favoured position on the left, where he’ll be hoping to get at Alexander-Arnold or exploit the space he could leave; especially with no Konate to mop up down their right-hand side.
Match prediction
Before Palace, my heart said a 0-1 win and my head went for a 1-1 draw. This week, I’ll go with my head, which can’t help but feel Liverpool will have too much; but I think we’ll make a very good game of it.
It’ll be fascinating to see how Lewis Hall manages Mo Salah, hopefully a night that doesn’t feature Darwin Nunez turning into prime R9 for one night only, but above all else a big chance for Howe and the players to respond to what was a pretty disastrous end to November last week.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-2 Liverpool
Howay the lads!
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