Premier League [Preview]: Liverpool vs Newcastle United

“I don’t think that it’s possible that somebody could get more credit, compliments, praise, whatever you want to say as Roberto gets from us”, Klopp said in January.

Liverpool will be looking for a win to go second in the table when they welcome Newcastle United to Anfield this evening. Remarkably they lost by the same scoreline 12 months later, but the Anfield Road has sure been a long road since those dramatic nights. But they don’t remember the games.

Newcastle have been decent in their away games in the recent weeks.

Liverpool defeated the Toon 2-0 at Anfield, thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah (40′) and Sadio Mane (55′).

It was a bitterly cold return to Merseyside for the Spaniard, whose attempts at damage limitation against the free-scoring Reds lasted until five minutes before the break.

While Liverpool and Tottenham should have little trouble recording home wins – the fact Newcastle and Huddersfield are fighting for their top-flight lives should not be taken lightly. Liverpool scored two first-half goals via Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana, which, however, were cancelled out when Papiss Cisse and Jack Colback netted twice to make it all square. Only Robbie Fowler (33) and Luis Suarez (43) have contributed more to a Premier League campaign for Liverpool.

He said: “We won four trophies, we played three finals, we reached the semi-final of the Europa League, so the time that we were there with the results that we had, we did well and the people remember that”. With Klopp’s charges unbeaten at home this season, it’s no surprise that Liverpool are short at [1.23] to get the job done here.

Optimism is high for Jurgen Klopp’s side, who climbed briefly into second place after beating West Ham 4-1 last Saturday, before Manchester United moved back above them with victory over Chelsea a day later.

Even less serious injuries to Jordan Henderson, Alberto Moreno and Joel Matip have erred on the side of caution. Newcastle had to take the game in stages, with the first 20 minutes vital, but nothing was doing for the hosts. Jesus Gamez is also likely to be out of the squad due to his injury. Dwight Gayle has a tight hamstring whereas Jonjo Shelvey is also a major doubt due to a knee strain.

The Liverpool boss will have to tackle Newcastle without midfielders Georginio Wijnaldum and Ben Woodburn, however, with both ruled out through illness.