Newcastle v Liverpool Match Preview

Newly appointed Newcastle manager Alan Pardew will see his first Premier League match at St James’ Park against Liverpool Saturday evening.

Pardew has a lot to prove to the Toon fans’ after he he may receive backlash by replacing Chris Houghton.

Newcastle have only taken two points from their last five matches and our 12th on the Premier League table.

Meanwhile Liverpool, sitting in 8th place, have won five out of their last eight games.

After a very rocky start for manager Roy Hodgson, his side seem to finally be going in the right direction and are still aiming for that top four finish.

However the Reds seem to struggle from home, winning only once away.

The record against Newcastle is very strong, with Liverpool winning 5-1 at Newcastle and then 3-0 at Anfield two years ago.

Liverpool have no new injuries, but continue to be without Captain Steven Gerrard, who is expected to make his comeback next week.

Jamie Carragher, Jay Spearing and Daniel Agger are also still out. Keeper Pepe Reina will retain the Captaincy.

Striker Fernando Torres will be back after his absence last week due to the birth of his second child.

Newcastle’s Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson will be serving the last of their three-match ban.

Joey Barton, Steve Harper, Danny Guthrie and Kevin Nolan are all being monitored for fitness and may make an appearance Saturday on the pitch.

Hatem Ben Arfa, Dan Gosling and Ryan Taylor are all still sidelined.

Kick-off is at 17:30 GMT and will be shown live on ESPN in the UK.