This page contains affiliate links and we may earn a commission from any products or services you buy.
Both sides enjoyed excellent results in Europe in midweek with Liverpool thrashing Qarabag 6-0 at Anfield and Newcastle earning a hard-fought 1-1 draw at holders PSG.
The result meant Liverpool finished third in the 36-team group table after six wins out of eight but Newcastle must now go into the playoffs after four wins, two draws and two defeats left them in 12th spot.
There was no disgrace in that and the Magpies actually finished on the same number of points as PSG (14) and racked up just one fewer than Real Madrid and last year’s beaten finalists Inter.
But if both these teams want to get back into next season’s Champions League, they need to pick up their inconsistent Premier League form.
Liverpool have slipped to sixth after three draws and a defeat at Bournemouth in their last four matches while Newcastle are ninth after only taking a point at rock-bottom Wolves and following that with a 2-0 home loss to Aston Villa.
Between them, the two sides have lost a combined 15 Premier League matches this season and that just isn’t good enough.
How to watch Liverpool v Newcastle
Liverpool v Newcastle kicks off at 20.00 GMT on Saturday, January 31 at Anfield.
The game will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 and TNT Sports Ultimate, with coverage starting from 7pm.
TalkSPORT will provide full match commentary.
Liverpool team news
Liverpool suffered another big injury blow in midweek when right-back Jeremy Frimpong limped off with a suspected hamstring problem in the opening few minutes.
Their right-back options have already been limited by the loss of Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez so a midfielder will have to fill in again.
Ibrahima Konate should return to central defence after compassionate leave following the death of his father and the Reds will hope Curtis Jones is an option after a recent illness.
Arne Slot withdrew striker Hugo Ekitike and playmaker Florian Wirtz early against Qarabag to keep them sharp so they should be Liverpool’s most potent attacking weapons even though Mo Salah is back in favour.
Liverpool expected line-up
(4-3-3) Alisson; Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Wirtz; Salah, Gakpo, Ekitike.
Newcastle team news
Joelinton again misses out with injury while Tino Livramento, Emil Krafth and Fabian Schar are still unavailable.
But Dan Burn made a welcome return against PSG after being out since mid-December and Eddie Howe will hope to play Bruno Guimaraes from the start after he was an unused sub away to PSG.
Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes came off the bench in Paris and could both start at Anfield.
Newcastle expected line-up
(4-3-3) Pope; Thiaw, Botman, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Miley; Barnes, Woltemade, Gordon.
Liverpool v Newcastle stats
– Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 18 Premier League games against Newcastle (W13 D5), since a 2-0 away loss in December 2015.
– Newcastle have failed to win any of their last 29 Premier League away games against Liverpool (D5 L24), their joint-longest winless run against an opponent in their league history.
– Liverpool are looking to complete the Premier League double over Newcastle for the 12th time – it would be the most they’ve done so against a specific opponent in the competition (currently 11, joint with West Ham).
– Liverpool are winless in their last five Premier League games (D4 L1), last having a longer run in a single season between November and January in 2002-03 (11 under Gérard Houllier).
– Since beating Bournemouth 4-2 on the opening weekend, Liverpool haven’t scored more than twice in any of their last 10 Premier League home games.
– Only Nottingham Forest (7) and Wolves (7) have failed to score in more Premier League away games than Newcastle this season (6).
– No side has scored more goals in the final 15 minutes of Premier League games this season than Liverpool (13), while only Bournemouth (13) have conceded more in this time frame than Newcastle (12).
– Against no side has Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah been involved in more Premier League goals than he has against Newcastle (19 – 10 goals, 9 assists).
Liverpool v Newcastle predictions
Playing away in Europe then away in the Premier League is a tough gig.
Liverpool felt its impact last week when they followed a Wednesday win in Marseille with a 3-2 loss at Bournemouth after running out of gas in the closing stages.
So with Newcastle also facing the Wednesday-Saturday away double, that gives Liverpool an edge in what otherwise would have been a tough fixture to call.
Liverpool have had Newcastle’s number in the Premier League although often they’ve been stretched to the limit.
Another close encounter is expected but, once more, the Reds may just edge it and the bet here is Liverpool to win by 1 Goal at 3/1.
Florian Wirtz stroked home an excellent goal against Qarabag and now has five goals in his last nine games. At Anfield, it’s four in five.
On those numbers, he’s excellent value at 7/2 to score anytime.
