Newcastle United will make the trip to Merseyside for their Premier League clash with Liverpool at Anfield, and Eddie Howe could be set to make changes.
The Magpies swiftly return to action after their victory over Nottingham Forest last weekend and will face their Carabao Cup final opponents at Anfield where they hope to continue their progression to qualify for Champions League football.
Newcastle currently match Manchester City in fourth for 44 points and with 12 league games left to play have a great opportunity to confirm their spot in the Champions League for next season, even in fifth where the Premier League is expected to get the extra entry.
Indeed, Howe will be fully focused in the challenge of taking away three points from their trip to Merseyside this evening, but it would be naïve to think that he won’t also have the Carabao Cup on his mind.
The North East giants face the league leaders at Wembley Stadium in less than three weeks, where Howe and his squad will be hoping to write their names in the history books to deliver the first major trophy at Newcastle for over half a century.
Tonight’s clash will be a great opportunity for the former Bournemouth boss to get a better idea of what he is coming up against and how he can exploit any potential weaknesses in his relentless opponents.
In terms of injuries, Jamaal Lascelles and Joelinton are ruled out for the trip to the North West, while centre-back Sven Botman will be subjected to a late fitness test as he is extremely close to full fitness ahead of the game.
Howe spoke briefly in his pre-match press conference to confirm that Botman was “close” to a return:
“Sven’s improving and he’s improving quickly, so we’ll see whether he makes it. It’ll be close.”
How could Newcastle line up vs Liverpool?
Nothing but Newcastle predicts that Howe will make just one change to his starting eleven from Sunday’s win over Nottingham Forest, maintaining his successful 4-3-3 formation.
In the defensive set up, Nick Pope retains his spot in goal as he continues his effort to prove he is the keeper worth starting over Martin Dubravka for the rest of season, while Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall also keep their spots in the full-back roles.
Despite reassuring progress for Sven Botman’s recovery, the game against Liverpool may come too soon for the Dutchman so we expect to see Dan Burn and Fabian Schar continuing in the centre-back partnership.
In midfield, we predict that Howe will make his only change to reintroduce Sandro Tonali back into the centre of the pitch after an injury scare last week and he will be joined by fellow midfield non-negotiable Bruno Guimaraes.
In the final spot, it would either be Joe Willock or Lewis Miley given Joelinton’s return is unlikely to happen at Anfield, and after scoring the equaliser against Forest it makes sense for Miley to be rewarded with another start at Anfield.
While Willock may start on the bench tonight, we don’t expect to see Miley play the full 90 minutes especially if the game is not going in Newcastle’s favour and Willock is likely to be introduced in the second half.
