Newcastle United vs Liverpool 05/05/19

5 May 2019

Saturday’s Premier League action concludes at St. James Park as Newcastle United take on title contenders Liverpool.

In spite of a slow start to the season, the hosts have managed to secure their top-flight status as they sit 11 points clear of 18th-placed Cardiff City with two league fixtures left to go. Unbeaten in their last three Premier League outings (W2, D1), the Magpies come into this meeting trying to stretch their unbeaten home run against Liverpool to five games (W2, D2). Notably, Rafael Benitez’s men have suffered just two defeats in eight PL home games in 2019, pulling off six wins in the process. Interestingly, both of Newcastle’s losses since the turn of the year have seen them fail to find the net, while all six of their wins in that period saw them net over 1.5 match goals. Still, Newcastle’s PL games since April have been short of entertainment, as four of their last five PL clashes have featured under 2.5 goals.

Meanwhile, the visitors suffered a disastrous 3-0 away loss to Barcelona in their midweek’s Champions League meeting, and winning the Premier League title seems to be the only way Jurgen Klopp can lift major silverware this season. The German tactician has a lot to hope for in this encounter, given the fact his players have racked up a seven-game PL winning run ahead of this round, scoring 2+ match goals across all of those triumphs. Another encouraging fact for the Reds is that they are unbeaten in all seven of their previous PL away fixtures (W4, D3), with Liverpool restricting their rivals to a maximum of one goal per match in all of these games. With ten goals conceded away from home, the Merseysiders boast the joint-best defensive record in the English top flight having kept a clean sheet on nine of 18 PL road trips this term.