Liverpool vs Newcastle: How Liverpool have taken over Newcastle for season-defining clash
Liverpool have taken over Newcastle for a season-defining Premier League clash on Saturday evening.
The Toon is normally buzzing for a home game but the Reds have well and truly taken over their northern rivals.
According to local sources, the Newcastle press box is oversubscribed as hoards of journalists from around the country plan to descend on the game that could decide the future of the league title race.
Not only will English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish scribblers be present for the historic 90 minutes, there will also be journos from Denmark, China, Japan, the US, France, Sweden, Brazil and South Korea among their ranks.
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In total, there will be 177 people there to cover the game for print, radio, broadcast and online while 30 photographers will be competing to see who can snap the best image of the day.
The whole ground is a complete sell-out and the atmosphere inside St. James’ Box is bound to be electric. Gini Wijnaldum will be returning to the club where he first made an impact in England, while Rafa Benitez will face off against the team he won the Champions League with.
Liverpool have got to be favourites for the game, but there seems to be some nervousness within the ranks. Maybe it’s to do with Newcastle’s good form coming into the game, or the fact that Benitez is in the other dugout, but there isn’t 100% confidence flowing out of Merseyside.
Roberto Firmino was left out the starting XI for the Barcelona game and the Reds definitely didn’t look like the same team without him. Wijnaldum did his best, but he’s not a false 9 and Firmino coming back into the team will be a massive boost.
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Newcastle may struggle to be at their attacking best after Ayoze Perez limped out of their draw against Brighton while new signing Miguel Almiron is out for the season after hurting his hamstring.