Liverpool are flying at the moment and are very much in the title conversation this season. In particular, their home form has been impressive with only Arsenal and Manchester United preventing Jurgen Klopp’s side from collecting all three points at Anfield this term. They also boast the best home defensive record in the division having conceded just six goals in their nine games here.

Newcastle, on the other hand, are really struggling of late having only won once in their last seven matches in all competitions. Granted, Eddie Howe has been very unlucky with the number of issues he’s had to contend with, but with the successes of last season, their current form is a worry. Interestingly, it’s their away form that is a serious problem having collected just five points from an available 27 on the road, a record which leaves them 19th in the league in points won away from home.

In terms of the head-to-head record, the visitors haven’t won here since 1994, a stretch that reads W1, D5, L23 and this looks a difficult task. However, Howe is likely to set his team up to have a real go in an effort to arrest their recent form, and as such this could be a fairly open and expansive game of football with plenty of goals, especially considering their away games average 3.55 this season.

Darwin Nunez is finally finding his feet at Liverpool after a difficult start to life on Merseyside. In terms of shots and shots on target, he is one of the most prolific in this Liverpool squad having amassed a total of 50 shots at a rate of 4.27 per 90 minutes played, with 19 of those finding the target. That equates to 1.62 per game which is surprisingly a higher ratio than Mohamed Salah’s at just 1.31.

The Uruguay international has now scored eight goals in all competitions this season and was on target again against Burnley on Boxing Day. Nunez will have happy memories of facing Newcastle as in the reverse fixture back in August, a game which Liverpool won 2-1, he came off the bench to score two late goals to rescue the game for his side and he’ll be hoping to get on the scoresheet again here.

However, it’s not only his shooting ability or his goals that attract attention for the bet builder as Liverpool’s target man can often be effective in supplying assists. Nunez has already provided seven assists to go alongside his goal tally this season and there is every chance that he links up with Salah, Diogo Jota or Cody Gakpo to set up a goal for a team-mate, so he can be taken to score or assist here.

Liverpool are one of the divisions dominant sides when it comes to corners as they sit third in terms of corners won, with only Manchester City and Arsenal winning more this season. They have so far amassed 126 at a rate of 6.63 per game which is higher than Newcastle, who have taken 93 – 4.89 per game. Therefore, taking the home side on the corner match bet makes plenty of appeal.

That’s reinforced when considering that Liverpool won the corner match bet at a canter in the reverse fixture at St James Park earlier in the season (9-5). In fact, Liverpool have won this particular bet in the last 15 games between these two sides and you have to go back to April 2015 for the last time Newcastle prevented Liverpool having more corners in a game.

During that stretch, some of Liverpool’s home games have resulted in a really wide margin on the corner front, with Liverpool winning the count by 11 or more on two separate occasions. Given their seasonal average is 6.63 and the fact they are fancied to dominate possession, we could easily see six or more corners for the home side, therefore the Reds taking six or seven is a sensible bet builder angle.

Andy Robertson and Konstantinos Tsimikas have both been ruled out through injury, so Joe Gomez is likely to deputise in an unfamiliar position at left back. That could spell trouble for the Liverpool man as he will be tasked with marking the tricky and pacey Miguel Almiron who draws the odd foul, 13 in his 19 matches to date. Gomez himself commits more than one per 90 minutes.

Dominik Szoboszlai will operate in central areas and will be mixing it with Brazilian duo Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes. The Hungarian is averaging more than one foul per game having committed 21 in his 17 matches, an average of 1.23. The Newcastle pairing are also drawing plenty of fouls this season (69 in their combined 33 games) and Szoboszlai could attract interest from the referee.

Trent Alexander-Arnold doesn’t tend to commit that many fouls (just five in 17 games), but that could change in this game as he will be going up against Anthony Gordon, who is one of the league’s most fouled players. The Newcastle winger is drawing an average of 1.94 per game and as he tracks back, Alexander-Arnold could commit a foul as he did in the reverse fixture in August.