I’ll leave you with Andy Hunter’s report from Anfield on a night when Liverpool proved beyond reasonable doubt that they are capable of winning a 20th league title. Goodnight! Jurgen Klopp drops his wedding ring while walking over to the Liverpool fans. After 10-15 seconds of panic, he finds it and punches the air in front of the Kop. Not because he found his ring, because they won in spectacular style. The Premier League table Full time: Liverpool 4-2 Newcastle Peep peep! Liverpool begin 2024 with a statement of title-winning intent. That performance belonged in 2019-20, when they romped to the title with months to spare. Liverpool savaged an ailing Newcastle side and would have won by a lot more but for Martin Dubravka, whose 11 saves included a Mo Salah penalty in the 23rd minute. All six goals came in a thrilling second half. Salah scored two, made one and played a big part in the other goal. Newcastle somehow stayed in the game, just about, until Salah scored from the spot in the 86th minute. But they were battered. 90+7 min Liverpool’s xG is apparently the highest on record: 7.2. I’m not making this up. 90+5 min Salah’s latest hat-trick attempt is desperately blocked, then Jota’s shot deflects wide. Newcastle’s defenders will sleep for a week after this. 90+4 min A cracking stat from Peter Drury on Sky. Newcastle have lost five Premier League games in the past 26 days, which is as many as they lost throughout last season. 90+2 min “Gary Neville is 100 per cent correct, Jota threw himself,” says Jeff Sax. “Where is VAR?” They’re also trying to work out what the hell happened at Ally Pally. 90+1 min Van Dijk and Longstaff have a bit of a row over nothing. There will be seven minutes of added time. 90 min Longstaff is booked for taking out Jota, who has been quite brilliant since coming off the bench. His return is so timely given Salah’s imminent departure. 88 min Salah cuts inside, sniffing a hat-trick, and belts a shot that is headed up in the air by Schar. Liverpool have been fantastic going forward tonight. GOAL! Liverpool 4-2 Newcastle (Salah 86 pen) Salah opens his body to send Dubravka the wrong way and clinch a pulsating victory! 86 min Mo Salah steps forward again… 84 min: Penalty to Liverpool! Jota runs through on goal, strolls round Dubravka and goes over. Dubravka certainly made contact – but then there was a beat before Jota went over. Gary Neville on Sky says it shouldn’t be a penalty because “the delay is too great… he just throws himself to the ground”. I can see both sides! 83 min “Much and all as I love Darwin’s chaotic energy, his inability to finish is a liability,” says Patrick Crumlish. “When fit and available the front three should be Salah, Diaz and Jota. That would give City a run for their money. Two goals since Nunez was subbed. Coincidence?” There’s an argument that Nunez ran the Newcastle defence ragged for 65 minutes and that the subs reaped the benefit. I do generally agree with you on the front three, certainly when Diaz and Jota are in form, but playing against Nunez must be uniquely miserable. 82 min: Newcastle substitutions Lewis Haal and Jamaal Lascelles replace Joelinton and Dan Burn. Sean Longstaff’s right-wing corner is met by Sven Botman, who towers over Jota and shoulders the ball into the net from six yards. This is an absurd game of fotoabll. GOAL! Liverpool 3-2 Newcastle (Botman 81) Who fancies another 4-3? 80 min There’s another VAR check for offside – but the goal is given. The outstanding Salah shuffles infield from the right, teasing poor Dan Burn yet again, and wafts a delightful cross with the outside of his left foot. Gakpo meets it six yards out and miskicks the ball into the ground, but Dubravka has already committed himself and it bounces slowly into the net. GOAL! Liverpool 3-1 Newcastle (Gakpo 78) Even the mishits are going in now! 76 min The fit again Alexis Mac Allister replaces Endo. 75 min Almiron wallops over from the right side of the box. The two passes for Jones’ goal were lovely. Jota’s was reminiscent of Karel Poborsky’s for the Czech Republic in a classic game against the Netherlands at Euro 2004, though Jota’s was probably even better because the ball was coming across his body from the right-hand side. The move started when Jota found Salah on the right wing. He cut inside and played a beautiful angled pass back to Jota on the right edge of the six-yard box. Jota drew Dubravka and slipped the ball square to give Curtis Jones an open goal. GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Newcastle (Jones 74) This is another terrific team goal. 73 min Newcastle break through Gordon on the left. He curls a deep cross towards Longstaff, who chests it down in the area and goes over under a challenge from Endo. There are no real penalty appeals, and meanwhile… 72 min “I believe goalkeepers do not get enough criticism from pundits for poor positioning,” says Gary Naylor. “but the downside of that absence of scrutiny is a lack of praise when they have a blinder. Dubravka is putting in one of the best performances of the season (anywhere on the pitch) tonight.” He’s made 10 saves now, it says here. I think the record is 14, back in David de Gea’s pomp. 70 min Gordon, who has been so much better since moving to the left, surges infield and has a pop from distance. It’s too close to Alisson. That’s Newcastle’s third attempt at goal. Liverpool have had 28. 69 min The corner breaks to Gakpo, whose snapshot is saved to his right by the heroic Dubravka. Gravenberch wallops the rebound over the bar. 68 min It’s still pouring down, since you asked. Salah runs at Burn to win Liverpool’s umpteenth corner… 66 min Joelinton, who should have been booked for the first half, does get a yellow card for wiping out Konate. 66 min Endo is booked for something or other. 65 min: Off the line by Livramento! Salah’s extravagant curler is pushed back into trouble by the overworked Dubravka. Jones runs onto the ball and rattles a left-foot shot that is booted away by Livramento in the six-yard box. I think that was going in. 65 min: Triple substitution for Liverpool Diogo Jota, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo replace Szoboszlai, who is holding his hamstring, Diaz and Nunez. 64 min: Chance for Nunez! He could have had five tonight. Salah pushes the ball back to Endo, who coaxes a first-time cross towards the six-yard line. Nunez strains his neck muscles for the header but flicks it just wide of the far post. 62 min Lovely feet from Diaz, who makes room for a shot from the edge of the area that is beaten away by Dubravka as he falls to his right. A Liverpool goal feels inevitable. 60 min Alexander-Arnold’s dangerous ball is missed by the stretching Diaz and kicked nervously across his own six-yard box by Livramento. He gets away with it. Moments later Diaz, who has been his 2021-22 self tonight, Cruyff-turns Livramento and pokes the ball right across the face. 60 min The xG according to Flashscore is Liverpool 3.67-0.32 Newcastle. 58 min Alisson claims a Gordon free-kick and flings the ball half the length of the field to Diaz. He makes progress down the right and crosses deep towrds Nunez, whose header back across goal is booted clear by Livramento. 56 min The substitution was Miguel Almiron for Lewis Miley. That means Gordon is playing on the left and Joelinton has moved into midfield. Gordon, who had just moved over to the left because of a substitution I didn’t have time to report, zipped infield and slid a clever pass through to Isak. Van Dijk couldn’t decide whether to play offside, which gave Isak plenty of time to open his body and lift the ball calmly past Alisson. Blimey. GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 Newcastle (Isak 54) A goal out of absolutely nothing! 52 min: Dubravka denies Nunez again! This is great stuff. Konate’s long, straight pass put Nunez through on the right side of the area. He lashed the bouncing ball towards goal from a tight angle and Dubravka leapt to push it over. 52 min: Great save from Dubravka! Diaz spins a pass in behind for Salah, who hammers a volleyed cross towards Nunez. He adjusts his body to knee a close-range volley that is somehow blocked by Dubravka. It might have hit him in the neck. All three forwards were heavily in a terrific team goal. Liverpool broke at pace following a Newcastle attack, with Diaz on the ball. He cut inside from the left and played a brilliant angled pass to put Nunez through on goal. Nunez shaped to shoot, drawing Dubravka in the process, and then squared the ball to give Salah an open goal. It’s his 150th Premier League goal. GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Newcastle (Salah 49) Liverpool take the lead after a deadly counter-attack. 48 min “Nunez is a great asset to any opposition team!” writes Gary Neville Jeff Sax. 47 min Alexander-Arnold’s cross is brought down on the half-turn by Nunez, but Schar nips in to poke the ball away before he can shoot. Gary Neville criticises Nunez’s touch, though that looks slightly harsh – it wasn’t the easiest ball to kill. 46 min It’s still raining at Anfield, where Bruno Guimaraes has just kicked off the second half. “Evening Rob and Happy New Year,” says Stephen Carr. “Interesting listening to Gary Neville’s comments about the Liverpool players complaining about decisions going against them. I remember Man United had a right back who was absolutely the worst for that sort of thing.” Yeah but that was in a former life. Half-time reading “Happy New Year!” writes Liz White. “Slow, sleepy New Year’s day here but the game’s waking me up a bit. Everything but a goal. Enjoying the radio commentary’s various descriptions of rain. Might listen to my High Fidelity soundtrack later. “Also could there be a NY’s resolution to scrap the toenail- offside goal checks? They’re annoying. Yes, I know they’re here to stay.” “Joelinton’s off-the-ball suckerpunch against Szoboszlai reminds me of the way Guimarães did the same to PSG’s Ugarte in a similar situation,” says Kári Tulinius . “I’m just as mystified now as I was then why the Newcastle player wasn’t shown a straight red.” Did he punch him? I thought he just pulled him back, though there was a lot going on and I was trying to fathom what the hell was happening at Ally Pally I think I only saw one quick replay. Half time: Liverpool 0-0 Newcastle Goalless at Anfield, though that doesn’t tell the story of a frantic, increasingly tetchy first half. Both teams had goals disallowed for tight offsides and Mo Salah had a penalty saved by Martin Dubravka. There are boos for the referee at half-time, though there have been no great injustices. Joelinton should have been booked; that’s about it. Liverpool have had 18 shots to Newcastle’s one, hence their frustration. 45+5 min Alexander-Arnold is the latest player to be booked for dissent. He goes looking for more with Anthony Taylor and is wisely pushed away by Konate. 45+3 min “Very happy new year and hope you’re keeping well,” says Russell Yong. “Re: the pre-game link to the match report of when Newcastle last beat Liverpool, it feels like a trick of the mind that Klopp’s been manager for almost eight years, and it provokes some philosophical thinking. He’s probably the least successful manager to have stayed this long at Liverpool, yet the fanbase seems largely unified behind him, in recognition of the even keel on which he runs them and the way he brings an element of pride to the club. “When you see what he walked into (a squad that had the likes of Jordon Ibe, Alberto Moreno and Kevin Stewart), lost two finals that season, took three seasons to get them to another final, took yet another season to finally win something and a total of five seasons (during a pandemic, no less) to win the league, it really puts a lot into perspective, not least the fortunes and perceptions of a certain other red team and their manager.” 45+2 min Miley is booked for a lunge at Salah. He won the ball and followed through into Salah, but he was low enough to catch him on the foot rather than than the ankle. 45 min Now Diaz is booked for dissent. He thought he was fouled by Joelinton and punched the air in Anthony Taylor’s direction. There will be five minutes of added booing towards Anthony Taylor. 44 min Liverpool aren’t happy that Joelinton wasn’t booked for a deliberate foul on Szoboszlai. It’s getting feisty. 42 min A dreadful pass from Alexander-Arnold goes straight to Miley, whose header threatens to put Isak through on goal. Van Dijk comes across to make an important interception and concede a corner. 39 min: Alexander-Arnold hits the bar! A crossfield pass bounces up awkwardly at Alexander-Arnold on the byline. He cuts across a ridiculous shot that beats Dubravka and hits the crossbar. That would have been an amazing goal. It was essentially a mirror image of this famous Roberto Carlos goal, except it hit the crossbar rather than going in. No goal! Yep, Isak was marginally offside, just like Nunez in the lead-up to Diaz’s goal. 37 min This might be given… 37 min: Burn has a goal disallowed! Newcastle break from that Liverpool chance and Burn stoops to head Miley’s lovely cross past Alisson. The goal is disallowed for offside against Isak in the build-up. It’s another tight one. 36 min: Big save from Dubravka! A huge clearance puts Nunez one v one with Botman. He goes over and Nunez is through, but Dubravka flies out to save with his left leg. 34 min It’s still pelting down at Anfield, since you asked. 33 min “Interesting that Dubravka’s previous penalty save was from Troy Deeney because that was a Troy Deeney penalty,” says Gary Naylor. “Maybe takers need a water bottle as well as keepers?” Ha, quite. It’s definitely worth studying keepers. I wonder whether West Germany did any research on Peter Shilton ahead of the 1990 semi-final. Probably not. 30 min Joelinton nutmegs Alexander-Arnold to spark a Newcastle break. Isak tries to play in Gordon, whose run is well tracked by Gomez. Moments later Isak has a shot blocked by Van Dijk, then the flag goes up. 29 min Alexander-Arnold’s free-kick leads to a shout for handball and a VAR check for a potential penalty. Van Dijk headed it onto the arm of Joelinton, but they were barely a yard apart. No penalty. 28 min Bruno Guimaraes is booked for a desperate lunge at Endo. Newcastle are being run ragged. 26 min Diaz plays in the underlapping Jones, who is well tracked by Miley. Corner to Liverpool, which leads to another when Van Dijk’s shot is blocked. The second corner leads to Konate heading well wide, though the flag was up. 25 min Liverpool have had 67 per cent possession and nine shots to Newcastle’s one. It’s 0-0. 24 min Jones’ long-range drive is saved by Dubravka, woh almost dived past the ball and did well to hold it in the end. Dubravka saves the penalty! 23 min Salah hammered a poor penalty that was pushed away by Dubravka, diving to his left. The ball rebounded to Alexander-Arnold, who slashed it over the bar. That was a great chance too, even if the bounce was slightly awkward. Newcastle aren’t happy – they think Diaz dived after hurdling Botman’s challenge. The VAR officials disagree. 20 min: Penalty to Liverpool! Diaz does incredibly well to evade Burn and Botman in a phonebox-sized space before being brought down by Botman. No goal! Yep, Nunez was fractionally offside. 18 min: Diaz has a goal disallowed for offside! This time it looks like the right decision, although it’s tight. Jones played a lovely through pass to Nunez, who looked fractionally off when it was played. Burn got back to make a vital tackle on Nunez but the ball ran across to Diaz, who lifted it confidently over Dubravka. 17 min Salah’s short-range cross is crucially headed away by the stretching Schar. The player waiting behind him, Nunez I think, would have had a pretty straightforward chance. 17 min Alexander-Arnold’s clipped free-kick is headed over from about 12 yards by Nunez. 16 min “On John Cusack and the rain,” says Scott Blair, “I can’t be the first to observe that it’s almost as if everywhere he goes, he um, always takes the weather with him.” Heh, very good. 15 min Newcastle are starting to have more of the ball, though most of it has been in harmless areas. Still, it beats making desperate blocks in their own penalty box. 12 min: Good save by Dubravka! Saying which, Liverpool have just had a decent chance. Nunez played a one-two with Salah and hit a close-range volley that was well saved by Dubravka, then Jones’s follow-up was kicked away by Schar in the six-yard box. 11 min Corner to Liverpool on the left. Szoboszlai’s inswinger is punched away well enough by Dubravka. Things are starting to feel a bit calmer for the Newcastle defence. 8 min: Good block by Gomez! That’s better from Newcastle. Longstaff wins the ball in a dangerous area and they work it forward to Miley on the right side of the area. His shot is well blocked by Gomez and ricochets behind for a corner. 7 min Gordon beats the sliding Gomez to a loose ball in the centre circle and is tripped. A challenge like that often brings a yellow card; maybe Anthony Taylor is takign the wet conditions into account. 6 min Szoboszlai’s free-kick goes straight into Dubravka’s loving arms. 5 min Liverpool are pressing ferociously, not even allowing Newcastle over the halfway line. They win the ball back before Gordon again fouls Jones, this time in a deeper position. 4 min Alexander-Arnold smashes the free-kick into the six-yard box, where it hits Livramento (I think) and bounces to safety. 3 min Gordon fouls Jones just outside the area on the left wing. Newcastle look really jittery. 2 min Burn takes the ball off Salah’s toe in the area. It eventually drops for Alexander-Arnold, whose left-foot shot from 20 yards takes a nick off Burn and flies just wide of the far post. 1 min It takes Liverpool 20 seconds to have their first shot. Endo fires a pass into the area for Szoboszlai, whose effort is blocked. 1 min Peep peep! Darwin Nunez gets another year of Premier League football under way. Newcastle have won the toss and turned Liverpool round so that they’ll be kicking towards the Kop in the first half. “G’day Rob, and Happy New Year!” writes Chris Paraskevas. “Difficult to approach this game with anything other than morbid trepidation. We look spent mentally as much as physically and Eddie Howe has pointed out that January is a difficult transfer window to operate in. “This fixture feels like a waypoint on the way to the massive derby in the FA Cup, but will the Newcastle owners see it that way? Their focus is surely on returning to Europe, rather than a domestic competition/local derby. Funny how quickly expectations have to change, eh?” On Monday Night Football, Jamie Carragher made the point that defeat to Sunderland could turn some fans against Howe, which is a whole new problem. It’s John Cusack weather at Anfield, which should enhance what was always going to be a fast-paced game. Let’s have a reminder of the teams. Liverpool (4-1-2-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Endo; Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Diaz. Substitutes: Kelleher, Quansah, Bradley, Mac Allister, Elliott, Gravenberch, McConnell, Gakpo, Jota. Newcastle (4-1-2-3) Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn; Bruno Guimaraes; Miley, Longstaff; Gordon, Isak, Joelinton. Substitutes: Karius, Gillespie, Dummett, Lascelles, Krafth, Hall, Murphy, Ritchie, Almiron. Referee Anthony Taylor. Newcastle’s last victory over Liverpool came eight years ago, when Martin Skrtel and Gini Wijnaldum scored the goals in a 2-0 win. Confused? Splendid. The main man on the title race Aston Villa improved massively, Tottenham is back, Arsenal improved massively, we are kind of back, and City are City. Eddie Howe speaks to Sky Sports Featuring Aurélien Tchouaméni, Evan Ferguson and Dr Leonard “Bones” McCoy Eddie Howe on Eddie Howe Something so strong will Karius today is the subject line of Peter Oh’s email. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting too many Crowded House references tonight. “In the unlikely event Loris Karius has to step into the Newcastle goal today,” writes Peter, “do you think he will refrain from celebrating a big save in front of the Kop?” Jonathan Wilson on Eddie Howe Tonight is the last time Mo Salah and Endo will play in the Premier League before heading off to the Ivory Coast and Qatar respectively. Team news: Szoboszlai returns, Trippier out Jurgen Klopp makes four changes from the win at Burnley. Ibrahima Konate, Dominik Szoboszlai, Curtis Jones and Luis Diaz come in for Jarell Quansah, Harvey Elliott, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo. Alexis Mac Allister is back on the bench. Tino Livramento replaces the injured Kieran Trippier at right-back for Newcastle. That’s one of two changes from the defeat against Nottingham Forest. Joelinton is preferred to Miguel Almiron, which means Anthony Gordon will probably switch to the right wing. Callum Wilson is also unavailable, though it sounds like neither injury is serious. Liverpool (4-1-2-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Endo; Szoboszlai, Jones; Salah, Nunez, Diaz. Substitutes: Kelleher, Quansah, Bradley, Mac Allister, Elliott, Gravenberch, McConnell, Gakpo, Jota. Newcastle (4-1-2-3) Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Botman, Burn; Bruno Guimaraes; Miley, Longstaff; Gordon, Isak, Joelinton. Substitutes: Karius, Gillespie, Dummett, Lascelles, Krafth, Hall, Murphy, Ritchie, Almiron. Referee Anthony Taylor. Preamble Hello and welcome to live coverage of Liverpool v Newcastle at Anfield. This is a classic Premier League fixture, which that evokes memories of everything from Collymore closing to Roy Hodgson’s facerub. Liverpool start the new year in a slightly odd position. They’re top of the Premier League on New Year’s Day, they are Liverpool Football Club, yet few experts are tipping them to win the title. In the first half of the season it felt like a two-and-a-half-horse race, with Liverpool’s challenge not taken entirely seriously. They kept pace with Manchester City and Arsenal, but some fitful performances were used in evidence against them. That view is starting to change – mainly because of Arsenal’s lost Christmas but also because Liverpool are looking more solid. Their defence is now comfortably the tightest in the league and, though they still go behind far too often for comfort, their attacking power and deceptive midfield depth usually gets them out of trouble. A win tonight would move them five points clear of City and Arsenal, though City have a game in hand, and three ahead of Aston Villa, the other team whose title challenge has been questioned. If Liverpool do win the league, they’ll reflect on one game in particular. Darwin Nunez’s stunning heist at St James’ Park restored the feeling of invincibility that Jurgen Klopp’s best Liverpool teams always have. Their only league defeat, at Tottenham, was unfortunate for all kinds of reasons. Liverpool’s win in August was the first of many gut punches suffered by Newcastle in their difficult second (full) season under Eddie Howe. They’ve lost eight league games, including four of the last five, and their away form has been wretched. It’s depressing and indecent that Howe is one of the favourites in the Premier League sack race; it’s also inevitable given the culture of modern football. The January fixture list is especially unkind: Liverpool, Manchester City (H) and Aston Villa (A) in the league, with the small matter of a trip to Sunderland in the FA Cup on Saturday. A weary Newcastle squad are right under the pump. But a first win at Anfield since 1995 would change the mood at a stroke. Kick off 8pm.