Despite the fact that Liverpool FC are a side overflowing with stellar players in all position groups, manager Jurgen Klopp is still the team’s true “star.”
A very quirky, overly intense and extremely colorful man, the German is almost always extremely loquacious, which both creates new storylines and extends the life of existing ones. Ahead of his side’s Championship Sunday clash at Newcastle United, Klopp’s row with Chelsea manager Frank Lampard is the lead story.
Lampard lost a very emotional match at Anfield in midweek, on a night in which LFC celebrated ending their league title drought.
"Drink what you want"
"Prepare for a party when this bullshit is gone"
Pretty much the only reasonable and sound advice that I could give to anyone, about anything, in the year 2020.#LFCchampions #LFC #COVID19 #COVID https://t.co/SLkhuejYoj
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) July 22, 2020
Chelsea enter the final day of the season fighting for Champions League qualification while Liverpool will be free and loose when they travel to St. James Park. In looking at our Reds lineup prediction, Dejan Lovren could feature, in what may be his final appearance in a Reds shirt.
Liverpool FC Starting XI Prediction at Newcastle (4-3-3): Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dejan Lovren, Virgil Van Dijk, Andrew Robertson, Naby Keita, Adam Lallana, Georginio Wijnaldum, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane
Championship Sunday FYIs
Kickoff: Sunday 26 July 4pm BST, St. James Park
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Odds: Newcastle: 13/2, Draw: 15/4, Liverpool: 2/5
Series history: Liverpool are ahead on wins, 86-50, across all competitions
TV: BT Sport 2
Prediction: Liverpool 2, Newcastle 1
It’s meaningless for both sides, and thus it’s hard to figure who will be more fired up here, but we’re backing the Reds to get it done.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.