Former England international John Barnes is confident Liverpool will claim a crucial away win against Newcastle United. Earlier this week, the Reds brushed aside local rivals Everton to heighten optimism about finishing in the top four.
As it stands, Liverpool are nine points behind the Magpies but have a game in hand to call upon. Few predicted Jurgen Klopp’s side would be so far behind the Champions League places at this stage of the season.
However, Newcastle’s injury woes and terrible record versus Liverpool add intrigue to the St James’ Park clash. No win in 12 against the Reds is ominous plus Eddie Howe only has two available central midfielders, Joelinton and Sean Longstaff, to choose from.
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Speaking to BonusCodesBets, Barnes, who played for both clubs, was optimistic about Liverpool’s chances. He said: “After the performance and the result against Everton I feel quite confident (about Liverpool). But obviously, Newcastle are playing really well, especially at home.”
“I think it depends on how Newcastle are going to approach the game. They are a very attacking team so, if they are focusing a lot on getting forward, then Liverpool could be very dangerous on the counter-attacks just as they were against Everton.”
“But they are a very good team so it is going to be a very interesting game with two teams that want to attack.”
The ex-forward also discussed Cody Gakpo after he broke his Liverpool duck on Monday. Several clubs - including Newcastle - had been linked with the Dutchman before his move to the North West.
“Of course, the fans will take him (Cody Gakpo) in straight away when he is scoring in the Merseyside derby,” Barnes added. "It’s always important to score and it would be great if he could have scored a bit before.
“But it’s very important to score in a derby and it will help him a lot in the future. Gakpo and Nunez are working hard for the team no matter if they are scoring goals or not. So, I’m sure that they will continue to perform well and even raise their bar a lot more.”
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