Newcastle United vs Liverpool

Liverpool’s stuttering attempt to secure a seventh consecutive Premier League top-four finish continues with a must-win clash against Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

Newcastle United came from behind to hold bottom-half Bournemouth to a 1-1 away draw last weekend, equalling the club’s longest-ever unbeaten league run (17) in the process. But drawing five of the most recent six Premier League fixtures (W1) isn’t inspiring enough as the ‘Magpies’ bid to arrest a five-game winless home league run against Liverpool (D2, L3). Newcastle’s defensive resilience on home turf could come in handy, though, with Eddie Howe’s high-flyers conceding a league-low six goals across 11 home league outings this term. Indeed, the hosts have registered seven top-flight clean sheets at St James’ Park this term, doing so in five of their last six such match-ups. Interestingly, Newcastle’s superb Premier League run started after a 2-1 defeat at Liverpool in late August.

In the meantime, Liverpool could go unbeaten on six consecutive visits to St James’ Park for the first time in their league history, which would be a massive boost to their top-four hopes. Stuck nine points adrift of fourth-placed Newcastle, albeit with a game in hand, the ‘Reds’ head into this round on the back of a morale-bolstering 2-0 Merseyside derby win over Everton earlier this week. In addition to snapping a dreadful four-match winless league start to 2023 (D1, L3), Jurgen Klopp’s men also broke a three-game scoring drought in the Premier League. However, the Merseyside giants have lost their last three away league matches, conceding precisely three goals on each occasion while scoring just one in return.