Newcastle v Liverpool

Newcastle v Liverpool Preview

The evening kick-off in Saturday's fixtures in the Premier League features this intriguing contest between fourth placed Newcastle United and their ninth placed visitors, Liverpool, when the two teams clash at St James' Park with both sides looking to further boost their claims for a possible European spot next season.

Perhaps surprisingly, of the two clubs it's Newcastle United that look to be in the stronger position of achieving a top four finish this term as The Magpies already occupy a place in the top four, two points ahead of Tottenham and a significant nine points above visitors, Liverpool.

This season's Premier League campaign has been nothing short of amazing for Newcastle United and their fans as previous expectations had been mid-table mediocrity at best, fighting relegation at worst, so the direction the club are heading under manager, Eddie Howe, has seen an astonishing transformation.

The Magpies have suffered just the one defeat all season to date, perhaps ironically, a 2-1 loss away from home at Saturday's opponents, Liverpool, but Newcastle United have since put together an unbeaten run of 17 matches in subsequent months and the hosts have been a very tough team to beat.

Liverpool returned to winning ways in the English top flight on Monday evening when they recorded a 2-0 home win over Everton in the Merseyside derby which also put an end to a previously worrying four-game winless run in the Premier League.

Just as concerning was the fact that Liverpool had failed to score in three of these last four games and their lack of firepower in front of goal cost them recent defeats to Brentford, Brighton and Wolves, each of which were away from home.

Liverpool had previously racked up four league wins on the trot in the form of victories over Tottenham, Southampton, Aston Villa and Leicester City but The Reds' form away from home has seen a sharp decline in fortunes as the visitors have managed to muster just two wins out of their last 10 outings on the road.

Having also lost six of these 10 away games, Jurgen Klopp may well be happy to see his side unscathed when they make their way to the north-east especially as Liverpool have managed to keep just one clean sheet on their travels so far in this campaign.

Newcastle United v Liverpool Verdict

Five of Newcastle United's last six league games have resulted in stalemate and although Liverpool have held the upper hand in recent exchanges, winning eight out of the last 10 meetings, Newcastle are a very different prospect under Eddie Howe and The Magpies look in good shape to get something from this encounter.

Liverpool obviously still carry a serious threat up front as the likes of Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino lead their goalscoring charts this term but the visitors' suspect defence remains a major concern for Klopp and this could have a bearing on Saturday's result.

Therefore, our main bet will be Draw @ 3.50

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw & Both Teams To Score Yes @ 4.33

Correct score: 2-2 @ 13.00