Charlie Nicholas has predicted that Liverpool will win 2-0 against Newcastle United when Steve Bruce’s side travel to Anfield on Saturday.
Newcastle will be without Matt Ritchie, Allan Saint-Maximin and several other players for their trip to Merseyside, something which Nicholas has suggested could be key after he heard about the injury news this week.
“I am reading this week that there are a few injuries floating around. Steve Bruce’s last away game at Tottenham was a stunning result. Newcastle will be better suited away from home – they do not know what their fans will be doing regarding ownership,” said Nicholas on the Sky Sports website.
“I don’t know who will be fit for Liverpool or whether they will go with the formidable front three, but at the moment Liverpool look as though they can wipe the floor with most teams. You cannot open up against them. Joelinton needs time and will not get any service. We will see how structured Newcastle can be at the back – they will have been working hard defensively.”
Newcastle are currently 14th in the table after picking up four points in their last two Premier League outings while Liverpool are top with a 100 per cent record.
OPINION
Even if Bruce had a full squad to choose from this weekend, it’s unlikely that Newcastle would cause any problems for Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp’s side has been in superb form in the opening weeks of the new season. Even when they didn’t look at their best against Southampton last month, they still managed to pick up three points, which suggests that the Reds won’t have to play at full throttle in order to pick up a result against the Magpies this weekend. Liverpool will be without number one goalkeeper Alisson Becker, with Adrian set to start in goals instead. He is Liverpool’s weak-link at the moment and Newcastle should look to expose him by shooting on sight and maybe starting someone like Jonjo Shelvey in the midfield because he can strike a ball sweetly from distance and potentially cause some issues for the Liverpool back-up goalkeeper. Even hitting Liverpool on the counter-attacker could be difficult so the best thing that Newcastle can really hope for here is to keep their goal difference respectable.
