Welcome to the Liverpool – Newcastle preview.
Saturday, January 31, starting at 8 p.m.
The Toon visit one of their least favorite venues this Saturday evening, hoping to achieve a victory that has eluded them at Anfield since a League Cup match in 1995.
Wednesday night proved that NUFC are capable of mixing with the very best teams in Europe and we will need to adopt a similar attitude on this one if we are to give the traveling Toon Army anything to be happy about.
The Reds have proven themselves far from infallible so far this season and this could be an intriguing match.
The two sides played an absolute stunner earlier this season when 10-man United came from two goals down to equalize and even looked the most likely winner until struck by a late sucker punch. This time, revenge would be celebrated long and hard all weekend long.
Form
In their last six Premier League matches, Newcastle have won three, drawn one and lost two. There have been wins against Burnley, Crystal Palace and Leeds, while we played a boring draw at Wolves. Disappointing defeats have occurred at Man United and at home to Villa. We have scored nine goals and conceded seven in this series. With the ten points achieved, we are in ninth place in the league, with a chance to enter the top six with a win.
Liverpool have won one, drawn four and lost one of their last six matches, and have not won any of their last five. They beat Wolves in December, but in 2026 they drew against Leeds, Fulham, Arsenal and Burnley before losing to Bournemouth last weekend. They scored seven and conceded seven. With the seven points achieved, they are sixth in the competition with the chance to reach the top four with a win.
Last time out
Newcastle traveled to PSG on Wednesday evening and recorded a very creditable 1-1 draw against the current European champions. It seemed to be a disastrous evening when PSG were awarded a ridiculous penalty in the first minute of the match. Fortunately, Nick Pope was right in and made a beautiful saving dive to the left to defy Dembele. The joy was soon put to an end when PSG found the net a few minutes later. Fortunately, the Toon stood up and were counted, handing the game back to their illustrious opponents and denying them a penalty for a foul remarkably similar to the one at the other end of the field. Despite this, Newcastle continued to attack and a long-range Tonali free-kick was set in by Dan Burn for Joe Willock to bury a header to level the score. In the second half the Toon came desperately close to victory when Willock had a try disallowed and both Gordon and Barnes missed good chances to seal a famous win.
Liverpool were also in action in the Champions League on Wednesday evening, strolling to a 6-0 victory over our next Champions League opponent Qarabag. This allowed them to achieve a third place in the league and a place in the last sixteen.
Statistical attack! (look away now!)
-Newcastle have won one Premier League match at Anfield in 30 attempts.
-NUFC’s twenty lost league matches at Anfield included five draws and fifteen defeats.
-The Toon last celebrated a win at Anfield in a 1995 League Cup match, our last league win there coming at the end of the 93/94 season.
Memorable match
On the final day of the 03/04 season, Sir Bobby Robson’s Newcastle headed to Anfield having endured a difficult end to the season as disappointing draws against Wolves and Southampton meant there would be no Champions League football on Tyneside the following season. There was still the incentive of a place in the UEFA Cup if the final day’s results went in NUFC’s favour. It all got off to a great start when Shola Ameobi hit an attempt on the Kop to send Toon fans into a frenzy. Things almost got better early in the second half when Darren Ambrose had a header cleared off the line despite looking like a certain goalscorer. Unfortunately, reality intervened with a well-taken try from nemesis Michael Owen, but the Toon managed to hold on for a crucial point, taking us into the UEFA Cup ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference. Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle.
Played for both
John Barnes was a goalscoring legend for both Liverpool and England in the 1980s and 1990s. He scored eighty-four goals in three hundred and fourteen games for the Reds before signing for Kenny Dalglish’s new look NUFC in 1997. Often ridiculed as part of a ‘Dad’s army’ group alongside Ian Rush and Stuart Pearce, people often forget that Barnes’ six league goals in 97/98 were directly responsible for avoiding a catastrophic event. relegation to the second level. He may be remembered much more at Anfield than on Tyneside, but well-executed strikes against West Ham and Bolton, along with a brace against Southampton and an equalizer away to Coventry, ensured survival for the Toon. He left for Charton Athletic in February 1999 after spending eighteen months at NUFC.
Danny Guthrie played three league games for Liverpool without finding the net before having loan spells at Southampton and Bolton. Signed by Kevin Keegan in 2008, he made a promising debut at Old Trafford before Keegan walked a few weeks later and all hell broke loose. He stayed on after our relegation to the Championship in 2009 and became an integral part of the team that achieved promotion, scoring five goals and providing thirteen assists. He spent four years at Newcastle before signing for Reading in 2012.
Freddie Houtman played four league games in goal for NUFC at the start of the 21/22 season, but did not have the best of times as the Toon struggled both on and off the field. Having been at the club since 2014, he had had six separate moves to different clubs before signing for Preston in 2022. He signed for Liverpool this summer and made his debut in a 3-0 League Cup defeat to Crystal Palace.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 1-1 away draw against PSG:
“We wanted to try and qualify directly but I think you have to take every opportunity you come across. We knew it would be our last game and it would be very difficult if we had to win and that was the position we were in. We did everything we could to do that, to try to win the game and we chased it as much as we could without losing the opportunity to lose because I don’t think that would have helped us either. We gave everything we could to try to get to the finish. the top eight; we didn’t quite get there, so we have to go a different way. You can argue about the first decision, but if you think it’s a penalty – which the referees clearly did – then for me the next one shouldn’t be a penalty either.
Arne Slot after a 6-0 win at home against Quarabg:
“We didn’t have a bad five, six or seven minutes. That’s usually the case in the other games, but we didn’t have that. We were 6-0 up and they had one counter-attack, but I saw my players back. I think I’ve often said that players develop and that’s because of them. They work very hard to be able to play every three days. I took them off to give them a rest for Newcastle. It’s development and that’s what the club knew when we made a lot of changes in the summer.”
Good cause
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be gathering across the Gallowgate in front of the food bank. However, you can still help and all online cash donations are greatly appreciated. For more information and/or to donate to the food bank online.
Prediction
I didn’t have a good feeling about this, the tough match combined with the annual misery at Anfield gave me the bad feeling that this will be another occasion to forget. However, Liverpool are yet to win in the competition in 2026 and are struggling with a number of injuries. Arne Slot might feel the pressure. Newcastle looked immense on Wednesday night despite an unfamiliar lineup and more of the same could see a very creditable return. Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle.
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