Having now arguably reached the status of Premier League champions-elect, Liverpool hope to pass another challenging test of their title credentials at home to Newcastle United on Wednesday night, in a precursor to next month's EFL Cup final.
The Reds' lead at the summit stretched into the double figures when they overcame Manchester City 2-0 on Sunday, a couple of hours after the Magpies' absorbing 4-3 win over Nottingham Forest.
Match preview
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A handful of times Arsenal have failed to capitalise on Liverpool dropping crucial points in the Premier League title race, but after the injury-riddled Gunners were slain by West Ham United on Saturday, Arne Slot's relentless Reds did not let such a golden opportunity pass them by.
Also benefitting from rivals' fitness woes at the Etihad Stadium, Liverpool kept an Erling Haaland-less Man City at bay without too much trouble and delivered two killer blows at the other end of the field through the mesmerising Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai in the first half.
Game in hand or not, Arsenal's 11-point deficit to the league leaders now feels increasingly insurmountable, and after a run of four games across all competitions where they failed to truly convince in any of them, Liverpool's professional display in Manchester was the epitome of a champions' performance.
While the Reds remain unbeaten on the road in the 2024-25 Premier League season, Slot's crop have quickly rebuilt the Anfield walls since September's shock loss to Nottingham Forest, avoiding defeat in each of their last 17 home contests and scoring at least two goals in all of them.
The hosts' slender 2-1 success over Wolverhampton Wanderers two weekends ago marked their fifth straight victory on their own patch, and midweek Premier League matches also tend to bring out the best in Liverpool, who have won each of their last 12 top-flight games played between Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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In customary fashion, Slot and his Liverpool troops are staying as grounded as possible while the title race is still mathematically alive, and the league leaders will certainly take nothing for granted against a Newcastle side whose marksman they may be envious of.
As Darwin Nunez flounders at the tip of the Liverpool attack, Alexander Isak flourishes in the Magpies' setup and reached 19 goals for the Premier League season in Sunday's thriller with Forest, where Jacob Murphy and Lewis Miley also contributed to the cause.
Set-piece failings in the second half made the contest far nervier than it should have been in the second half, but Eddie Howe's men just about bested their fellow high-flyers to go level on points with Man City, who are only keeping them outside of the top four on goal difference.
Newcastle surviving that late Forest fightback ensured that they would avoid the humiliation of three straight Premier League defeats, but Howe's men have lost their defensive steel again, conceding nine goals across their last three games and failing to keep a clean sheet in five in the top flight alone.
Furthermore, the Magpies have now failed to win any of their last 16 Premier League games against Liverpool, whose last home loss in this top-flight fixture came all the way back in 1994, although December's 3-3 stalemate may have felt like a triumph for Newcastle after Fabian Schar's heroic 90th-minute intervention.
Team News
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As Cody Gakpo was fit enough to play a part as a substitute at the Etihad, Liverpool are only missing a trio of fringe players for Wednesday's game in Conor Bradley (hamstring), Joe Gomez (hamstring) and Tyler Morton (shoulder); Alexis Mac Allister should be fine despite a bang to the face on Sunday.
Gakpo not quite being at full fitness saw Slot deploy Curtis Jones and Szoboszlai as two number 10s at the Etihad - a move that well and truly paid dividends - but Gakpo may now be promoted back to the first XI in place of Szoboszlai, who was completely exhausted at full time on Sunday.
However, as Liverpool have the luxury of a weekend off before they tackle Paris Saint-Germain the Champions League, Slot should see no need to make wholesale alterations in midweek, where Salah needs just one more goal to hit 10 both home and away in a third separate Premier League season.
Newcastle also came out of their seven-goal spectacular with Forest unscathed, and there is still an outside chance that Joelinton and Sven Botman might recover from knee injuries in time to make the trip to Anfield.
Sandro Tonali has also fully recovered from the small hamstring issue that restricted him to a second-half cameo over the weekend, but Jamaal Lascelles is still out of contention.
Now on 50 goals for his Premier League career, scintillating Scandinavian Isak is chasing down an Andy Cole record; the ex-Real Sociedad man has scored 10 away goals in the 2024-25 top-flight campaign, only two fewer than Cole' all-time Magpies record of 12 from 1993-94.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Jones, Diaz; Gakpo
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Willock, Guimaraes, Tonali; Murphy, Isak, Gordon
We say: Liverpool 3-1 Newcastle United
Clashes between Liverpool and Newcastle almost always promise a glut of goals, and Wednesday's affair should be no different, especially with the Magpies looking increasingly brittle at the back.
Howe's men are always a force to be reckoned with in the final third too, but we cannot envisage any other outcome than the Reds taking another giant step towards top-flight stardom.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
