Roberto Firmino fit again; Newcastle without Federico Fernandez; watch free match highlights on Sky Sports digital platforms and YouTube channel shortly after full-time
Wednesday 15 December 2021 16:09, UK
Team news, stats and prediction ahead of Liverpool vs Newcastle in the Premier League on Thursday (kick-off 8pm).
Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino returns to the squad to face Newcastle after six weeks out with a hamstring problem.
The Brazil international missed eight matches but having returned to training last week he is now fully fit. Fellow forward Diogo Jota returns after a knock but Divock Origi is set to sit out a second successive match with a knee injury.
Midfielder Curtis Jones is also back in training after an eye injury sidelined him at the end of October but he is likely to require a few more days to be in contention.
Newcastle will be without Federico Fernandez at Anfield after the defender sustained a thigh injury which could rule him out of the festive period.
Defender Paul Dummett remains out with a calf injury, although boss Eddie Howe hopes he will be back soon.
Midfielder Sean Longstaff will return to the matchday squad, having been left out at Leicester on Sunday.
Follow Liverpool vs Newcastle in our dedicated live match blog. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after full-time.
Say a little prayer for the Newcastle defence. Liverpool are 1/11 for a home win and with good reason.
With a routine victory on the cards for Liverpool we could see a scenario where the game is all-but over as a contest by 60 minutes. That has got me interested in the game producing a low card count. Liverpool games against lower-ranked teams are usually low card affairs due to opposition teams unwilling or unable to make the game an open affair. In the last 22 fixtures against teams that finished the season or are currently in the bottom four, Liverpool's games have averaged just 1.7 cards per 90 minutes.
Interestingly, eight of those fixtures produced no cards for both teams which is becoming a common theme in these type of fixtures as five of the last seven have seen the game end with the card count at zero. Two of those fixtures - Liverpool 2-0 Burnley and West Brom 1-2 Liverpool - were refereed by Mike Dean, who is seemingly allowing the game to flow much more than he did in his younger days. He takes charge here which only adds more fuel to the low card argument. He also refereed Liverpool vs Brighton this season and it took him 89 minutes to brandish the first yellow card before then showing another three in stoppage time. In a one-sided game that could descend into a pedestrian tempo, the 12/1 for Dean to show no cards is worth a tickle.
SCORE PREDICTION: 3-0
BETTING ANGLE: Neither team to be shown a card (12/1 with Sky Bet)
