Newcastle United face a huge test this weekend as they tackle Liverpool at St. James’ Park, hosting their second Champions League opponents of the season, and they’ll be looking for a more positive result after being beaten by Tottenham Hotspur on the opening weekend.
The Magpies responded well to their opening defeats against Spurs and Huddersfield, winning three consecutive matches before a narrow defeat at the hands of Brighton last weekend- which puts Rafael Benitez’ side with a respectable tally of nine points from six games.
Newcastle’s target this season is the magic 40-point mark, which should secure their Premier League status for another year, and getting a positive result at home to Liverpool would provide a massive boost ahead of a succession of winnable matches.
Whilst it’s a daunting task, Newcastle have a decent recent record at home to Liverpool as they’ve lost just one of their last six clashes with the Reds- although that defeat was a 6-0 drubbing in April 2013, where the Anfield outfit didn’t miss Luis Suarez following his ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic previously.
In the three games since though, Newcastle have drawn once, 2-2 in October of the same year, before beating the Reds in the last two meetings- a 1-0 victory in November 2014, with Ayoze Perez scoring the only goal of the match, and a 2-0 win in December 2016, where current Liverpool man Georginio Wijnaldum scored after an own-goal from Martin Skrtel.
Those results will give Newcastle United confidence heading into the game this weekend but they’ll still have to be at their best, especially if they’re to quell the in-form attacking players Liverpool have at their disposal- including Sadio Mane, Philippe Coutinho, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
Liverpool a frail defensively though so Newcastle could find joy in their attacking third but any chances they create will have to be taken, in a game that could be decided by who makes the least defensive mistakes.
