Losers of four of their last five and eight of their last 12, Newcastle United are in total freefall right now. This collapse has seen the temperature of the seat occupied by manager Eddie Howe warm considerably.
Since November began, the Geordies have piled up the second most losses of anybody in the Premier League. Now comes a trip to table topping Liverpool.
Liverpool FC vs Newcastle United FYIs
Kickoff: New Year’s Day, 8pm, Anfield, Liverpool, UK
Team News: Newcastle Liverpool
Starting XI Predictions: Newcastle Liverpool
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
Google Result Probability: Newcastle 15% Liverpool 66% Draw 19%
PL Form, Position: Newcastle LLWLL, 29 pts, 8th Liverpool WDDWW, 42 pts, 1st
Newcastle United Team News
And after that, a visit from reigning treble winners Manchester City. In other words, things look pretty bleak for Eddie Howe (who wasn’t a very popular hire to begin with) right now. He will make it to 2024 as Magpies boss, but his time on the job in ’24 could be very short.
Having a very lengthy injury list, seemingly all season thus far, has certainly not helped.
The only two players who could potentially come off of it and feature at Anfield are Joe Willock (Achilles), Harvey Barnes (ankle) and Matt Targett (hamstring). However, the odds are not really in their favor right now.
Elliott Anderson (back) and Jacob Murphy (shoulder) are slated to return later on during the month of January. Meanwhile the extensive list of longer-term injury and suspension absences for Newcastle remains unchanged as we head into this massive New Year’s Day clash.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.