Liverpool vs. Newcastle Utd – EPL December 2018 Preview and Scores
Match Preview
The annual Boxing day fixtures are here again as Liverpool welcomes Newcastle United to Anfield in a potentially scintillating encounter.
Liverpool welcome Newcastle coach Rafa Benitez back to Anfield, a stadium he recognises well from his past after leaving Liverpool some years ago.
Liverpool
Liverpool are in the form of the lives. They sit top of the table from 17 games and four points clear of 2nd placed Manchester City who have let their leadership slip by getting defeated by Chelsea and lately Crystal Palace.
Jurgen Klopp’s boys are solid both in attack and defence and have conceded the fewest goals in the league this season. (7 goals).
They have also scored 39 goals which is a high number, although one must mention that Manchester City have scored more. This stands at 50 goals so far.
Mohamed Salah has been in pristone form, netting 2 goals two matches ago and one goal in their last match. This is an indication that he is getting back to his last season form which saw him score more than 30 goals in all competition for the Reds.
Liverpool Team News
Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remain injured.
But on a morale bossting note for liverpool fans, Naby Keita and James Milner should return, while Trent Alexander-Arnold – who watched Liverpool’s 2-0 win at Wolves amongst the away fans at Molineux – is also pushing for a return.
Newcastle
Coach Rafa Benitez will probably be well received by the home fans when he arrives at Anfield tomorrow as he was quite successful and was also well loved during his time there.
Newcastle were somewhat lacking in confidencece as they have failed to win any of their opening 10 Premier League games but have now won 4 of their last 8 and only lost twice. This has boosted them to a more comfortable 15th position, although it’s worth noting that they have had a relatively favourable fixture list over the last couple of months.
Genrally, the Magpies do have a relatively good defensive record, but they have only scored 14 times at the other end and their goalless draw at home to Fulham ended to much boos and asessment of a boring match
Newcastle United Team News
Jonjo Shelvey, Karl Darlow and Ciaran Clark will all be pushing for a return for Newcastle, while Florian Lejeune is injured and Ki Sung-Yeung is with South Korea at the Asian Cup.
Head To Head
The sides have met 46 times in the Premier League, with Liverpool winning 25 times, Newcastle 11, and the teams sharing 10 draws
