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2024/25 English Premier League
Matchday 14
Newcastle United v Liverpool
St James' Park
Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Wednesday, 4 December 2024
Kick-off is at 19h30
Liverpool will be confident of maintaining their flying start to the
Premier League season when they make the journey to the north-east for a clash with Newcastle at St James' Park on Wednesday, December 4.
The Reds displayed their title credentials as they beat Manchester City 2-0 at Anfield on December 1 to go nine points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table.
Mohamed Salah scored and assisted a goal for the 36th time in the Premier League, equalling a record held by Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney.
Arne Slot's side have only dropped two points in their last nine games since Nottingham Forest inflicted their first defeat of the season on September 14 (a 1-0 loss).
The Magpies have an abysmal record against the Merseysiders, losing their last three encounters on home soil, while they haven't won this fixture since 6 December 2015 (2-0).
Eddie Howe's side (11th) dropped out of the top 10 following a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on November 30 which left them winless in their last two outings.
The Toon are in a four-way tie with Manchester United (9th), Fulham (10th) and Aston Villa (12th) on 19 points, with only the latter failing to get a result on matchday 13.
Howe remains without Jamaal Lascelles, Sven Botman (both knee) and Emil Krafth (shoulder) for at least another month, while Alexander Isak (groin) is rated doubtful for the visit of the league leaders.
Slot has several injuries to contend with as Alisson, Conor Bradley (both thigh), Konstantinos Tsimikas, Federico Chiesa, Diogo Jota (chest) and Ibrahima Konate (knee) are all ruled out.
Slot stressed the importance of staying consistent for the remainder of the season if they want to equal United's record of 20 top-flight titles.
"It's all about consistency until the end of the season, keeping the players fit, keeping them playing with this much energy," the Dutchman said.
"And like you probably saw today, I only had five defenders available. So to win something in the end, there's such a long way to go and so many challenges to take. But it's good that we are capable of winning against these teams in our own style."
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Newcastle are amongst the lowest scorers in the league this season (14), with only Southampton (10), Everton (10), Palace (11) and Ipswich (13) managing less, and Howe admits he's not sure why his team are struggling to find the back of the net.
"It's a difficult one to answer. We haven't changed our attacking philosophy in any way. It's something we're aware of and continue to work to improve. I've got no issue with the quality of players we have," he said.
"Fully fit Premier League strikers will cost us an extortionate amount of money we don't have. We have to back the players we have. Callum [Wilson] has had minimal training time. I didn't feel bringing him on at that stage was something I could do."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Newcastle wins - 0
Liverpool wins - 5
Draws - 0
Premier League Matchday 14 fixtures:
Tuesday, December 3
19h30: Ipswich Town v Crystal Palace
20h15: Leicester City v West Ham United
Wednesday, December 4
19h30: Everton v Wolverhampton Wanderers
19h30: Manchester City v Nottingham Forest
19h30: Newcastle United v Liverpool
19h30: Southampton v Chelsea
20h15: Arsenal v Manchester United
20h15: Aston Villa v Brentford
Thursday, December 5
19h30: Fulham v Brighton & Hove Albion
20h15: AFC Bournemouth v Tottenham Hotspur
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