Liverpool have now well and truly started the Premier League season after a convincing win against AFC Bournemouth at the weekend. They are now set to face Eddie Howe’s Newcastle United this Sunday at St. James Park at 15:30 UTC.
The Reds had a great record last season against the Magpies with a win at both home and away with one coming from a stoppage-time winner from Fabio Carvalho (currently at Leipzig). With Liverpool’s only concern being the defence with no clean sheets so far, it is going to be a tough away trip for Liverpool fans because the Magpies can easily take advantage of that in their transitional play and score goals for fun.
Are reinforcements coming to the midfield?
After a controversial red card for Mac Allister in Liverpool’s last match, they have appealed to the FA to reverse their decision as they will be yet again left with another midfielder out of the side. Speaking of midfielders for Liverpool, the Reds have fastened their approach for the signing of Brazilian Andre from Fluminese.
This might sound music to Liverpool fan’s ears but long-term absentee Bajcetic is set to return in the next match. Curtis Jones is also now ok after missing the last match due to an ankle injury, Thiago is working his way back to full fitness and Liverpool have also reignited their interest in Manu Kone.
Injury Setbacks for both the teams
The match against Bournemouth saw Trent Alexander Arnold limping off the pitch before the match ended which ended up worrying many of the fans but their fears were gone when Klopp came out and said it’s not that big of an issue.
For Newcastle, Joelinton won’t be featuring in the match against LFC after getting substituted in the first half against Manchester City. Javier Manquillo, Joe Willock and Emil Krafth are also set to miss the match against LFC with injury issues.
Predicted Lineup and Style of Play for Liverpool
Liverpool might start their new signing Endo in the midfield and try to stop the transitional play and might not risk pushing Trent Alexander into the midfield which has usually opened up acres of spaces for the opposition players to exploit. The importance of a good CDM performance can be seen in the Tottenham vs Manchester United match where Yves Bissouma put in a heroic performance which helped Spurs secure the match.
Predicted Liverpool lineup vs Newcastle –
Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson, Endo, Jones, Szoboszlai, Diaz, Jota , Salah
What to Expect?
Luis Diaz will be one to look for after his acrobatic finish in the last match and currently, he is also 2 for 2 in the goals tally, Mohamed Salah would also like to score and fight for the Golden Boot this season. But it can be safe to say most eyes will be on the Hungarian who displayed a brilliant performance against Bournemouth even after Liverpool went down to 10 men.
History suggests that the match will go in favour of Liverpool with Klopp winning all of his matches against the North East side all but one back in 2015. So it remains to be seen that Can Newcastle bounce back or will Liverpool secure a big win this Sunday. Nonetheless, it will be a great match to watch for the neutrals.