Preview: Newcastle vs. Liverpool

The Reds look to bounce back after a dour draw at the
weekend.

Newcastle vs Liverpool

| Wednesday, December 30th |Premier League | St. James’ Park8PM
BST /3PM EST

After failing to capitalise on their rivals’s stumbles with a
dismal home draw with Sam Allardyce’s West Bromwich Albion on
Sunday, Liverpool will look to make things right on their trip to
Tyneside tomorrow night to take on Newcastle.

Despite producing some of the least inspiring football in the
league, the Magpies’ points haul hasn’t been as disastrous as many
expected when they replaced Rafa Benitez with the excessive-headed
Steve Bruce last season. A 13th-place finish has been followed up
with similar results this year, and although they currently sit
15th, the Geordies are on pace to finish with more points than they
did last year.

Investing in his club for once, Mike Ashley brought in Callum
Wilson and Ryan Fraser from relegated Bournemouth, as well as
former Liverpool target Jamal Lewis from Norwich, and the end
result has been, if not particularly exciting — Wilson is the
club’s top scorer with eight, accounting for half their goals —
somewhat more robust defensively.

Entertainer Allan Saint-Maximin sadly misses out with an injury
suffered back in November, while captain Jamaal Lascelles is
recovering from Covid-19. Fraser, goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, and
former Liverpool man Jonjo Shelvey are also unavailable.

Projected Liverpool Lineup (4-3-3)

Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Williams, Fabinho, Robertson;
Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Wijnaldum; Mané, Firmino, Salah

With Joël Matip forced off against the Baggies at the weekend,
all eyes will be on Liverpool’s centre-backs tomorrow, as Fabinho
is likely to be joined by one of Rhys Williams, Nat Phillips, or
Billy Koumetio, with the former likely the preferred option,
despite a sub-par showing displaying his lack of pace last time
out.

As the trip to Southampton is five days away, and will be followed by
a meaningless FA Cup

In midfield, Naby Keïta has once again suffered a muscle injury,
but James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri are back in contention, while
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was on the pitch at the weekend, and any
one of the three featuring against Newcastle would not come as a
surprise. Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum are almost
certain to start, with Curtis Jones likely to miss out.

Up top, Diogo Jota remains unavailable, but Takumi Minamino
could be recalled if one of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah or Sadio
Mané should be adjudged as less than 100% after 90 minutes at the
weekend.

What the Managers Said

Jürgen Klopp: “.I cannot go into detail for the
Newcastle game, but it will be another tough challenge, like all
Newcastle games have always been”

Steve Bruce: “The criticism hurts but I hope to
keep working hard to shut a few people up. The only way to do that
is through results.”

The Officials

Referee: Paul TierneyAssistant
referees: Harry Lennard, Adrian HolmesFourth
official: Lee MasonVAR: Stuart Attwell,
Stephen Child

Kickoff is set for 8PM GMT/3PM EST tomorrow, and television
listings for the match can be found on LiveSoccerTV.

In the meantime, and as always, we’ll be keeping you updated
with all the buildup to the game, including team news as it’s
released, our live matchday thread, and post-match recaps from The
Liverpool Offside staff. If you want to join the discussion, sign
up for an SB Nation account to have your say on the action as it
happens.