JURGEN KLOPP'S men secured their first away victory of the Premier League season last weekend 3-2 at Leicester City. But now Liverpool must face a Newcastle side aiming for a third straight home league win.
So which team do the stats suggest will fare best? Unibet blogger Steve Jennings takes a look.
Newcastle have won four of their last six home games against Liverpool in the Premier League
The Magpies have won four, drawn one and lost one of their last six Premier League encounters with Liverpool at St James’ Park. The hosts have won the last two without conceding a goal, winning 1-0 in November 2014 and 2-0 in December 2015.
Despite being relegated from the top flight in the 2015-16 season, Newcastle earned four points from their matches against Liverpool. The most recent meeting was a 2-2 draw at Anfield in April 2016, a result that saw Newcastle end a run of nine successive defeats on the road in the Premier League.
The sides have averaged 3.14 goals per game across 44 Premier League meetings
Over the last 30 years this fixture has been a guaranteed goalfest. Between September 1987 and December 1998, Liverpool put four goals past Newcastle on six occasions in the top flight – two of those four-goal hauls came at St James’ Park.
During the Premier League era the sides have shared 138 goals in 44 encounters – an average of 3.14 per game. None of those 44 meetings have ended goalless. The only Premier League fixture that’s been played more times without a 0-0 draw is Newcastle vs Tottenham (45).
This will be Rafael Benitez’s third Premier League encounter with his former club Liverpool
Rafael Benitez has come up against the club he managed between 2004 and 2010 just twice in the Premier League since leaving the Merseysiders. Both games ended 2-2, one with Chelsea in April 2013 and the other with Newcastle in April 2016. In his opening 74 Premier League games in charge of Liverpool, Benitez won 134 points; that’s one less than Jurgen Klopp has won in his first 74 league matches with the Reds (135). Newcastle are one of only three Premier League clubs – alongside Manchester United and Southampton – that Klopp has faced but failed to beat in the league.
Both sides have scored in seven of the last 15 Premier League meetings
Historically, this fixture is an end-to-end thriller just as often as it is a one-sided affair. Only one of the sides have been on the scoresheet in four of the last seven league encounters, including Liverpool’s 6-0 win at St James' Park in April 2013.
In the 1990s, Liverpool beat Newcastle 4-3 twice in the space of 11 months (April 1996 and March 1997). The Magpies have won their last two home games in the Premier League but Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 23 top-flight matches in the month of October, winning 13 and drawing 10. This one really could go either way.
Mo Salah has found the net in four of his six Premier League appearances for Liverpool
No Liverpool player has scored in five of his first seven Premier League games for the club but Mo Salah could change that on Sunday. Meanwhile, Daniel Sturridge has struck in all four of his top-flight starts at St James’ Park. The striker could become only the fourth Premier League player to score in five successive away starts at a Premier League ground, following in the footsteps of Alan Shearer, Dion Dublin and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Best Bet
- Salah to score
- (17-10, Unibet)
Resident football tipster at Scotland's most read newspaper, the Daily Record, for over 20 years and proud host of one the best betting communities on the web with daily betting tips.
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