Ekitike has made a dream start to life at Liverpool, with a goal in the Community Shield followed up by a goal at Anfield against Bournemouth. He looks like a player that is going to be a constant shot threat this season with the volume of chances that Liverpool create.

Ekitike’s shot count was consistently high for Frankfurt last season. He had 117 shots across his 33 appearances in the Bundesliga (3.54 per 90), with 48 of these attempts finding the target (1.68 per 90). We saw a sample of this shot volume against Bournemouth, which was a game in which he had four shots, two of which found the target.

Given how quickly Ekitike has settled, we can expect him to remain a real danger for the Reds here. His willingness to shoot from range (24% of shots outside the box last season) also aids this selection, should Newcastle drop deep at times.

Gordon was having shots for fun in Newcastle’s opening game of the season against Aston Villa as the central striker. He had seven shots against Villa, with two of these efforts finding the target. He should have really found the back of the net with at least a few of these attempts, which partially displays the issue that Newcastle have without Alexander Isak.

Gordon should continue to play through the middle here, with Newcastle still posing a threat with the front three of Gordon, Elanga and Barnes, who can exploit this Liverpool backline. We’ve seen Slot’s side face problems in transition against Bournemouth and Palace recently.

Gordon averaged 0.70 shots on target per 90 for Newcastle last season, but we can expect this to rise as he’s playing as a central striker. Newcastle scored three goals in this fixture last season, with Gordon getting one, he had five shots in the match, with two of these efforts finding the target.

Gordon was hauled down twice on the opening weekend of the season against Aston Villa and is always a strong player to back to win fouls. He was fouled five times in this fixture last season, with Liverpool committing 17 fouls in total, and the extra layer of aggression that exists between these sides following the Alexander Isak situation should see a similarly feisty affair here.

Gordon averaged 2.61 fouls won per 90 in the Premier League last season. The majority of these appearances came on the left wing, so it was the fullback that he was causing issues, but here it is likely to be Van Dijk and Konate that have to manage the threat of Gordon, who will have been encouraged by the shaky performances from Liverpool's backline so far.

This fixture saw six goals last season as the sides played out a 3-3 draw.

Liverpool scored more goals than any other side on the road in the Premier League last season (44 - 2.31 per game). You can expect to start games at least one goal down against this Liverpool side, their attacking threat is so strong that trying to keep them out for 90 minutes is a near impossible task, but there are opportunities for sides if they take the game to Liverpool, with their backline far from settled at the moment.

Newcastle scored 40 goals across their 19 games at St James’ Park last season, with only Man City and Liverpool scoring more goals at home. Obviously, Isak was a massive part of this strong goal tally, but Newcastle will be eager to prove that his absence won’t affect the performance levels of the side. Liverpool failed to keep a clean sheet across their five friendly matches and have conceded 2+ goals against both Palace and Bournemouth at the start of the season. 

Gordon scored in this fixture last season and will be eager to show that this Newcastle side still carries a significant attacking threat through him in the absence of Isak. Gordon registered 15 goal contributions across all competitions last term and has a tendency to produce his best performances against the elite sides in the Premier League.

He’s provided goal contributions at St James’ Park against Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United over the last two seasons, and will also be on penalties for Eddie Howe’s side here. Gordon is likely to be the most motivated of the Newcastle frontline to prove a point here, so I’m more than comfortable to back him for a goal contribution.

I’ve touched on the dynamic between Gordon and the two Liverpool centre backs here and the makeshift striker may attach himself to Konate at times, after seeing his performance against Bournemouth.

Konate was all over the place at times in that game, and a more effective attacking set up would have punished Liverpool for his laziness. Konate had similar issues against Palace in the Community Shield, he committed two fouls in that game and was shown a yellow card.

He has been linked with a move to Real Madrid for the last few months and he is playing like a centre back that has had his head slightly turned by the interest of Los Blancos. Jeremie Frimpong’s recent injury makes things even more complicated for Konate, who picked up five yellow cards last season.

Liverpool are quite an aggressive side, but they don’t often get that tag due to how effective they are in the final third. Arne Slot’s side averaged 11.3 fouls committed per game in the Premier League last season and committed 17 fouls in this fixture last year.

Newcastle were one of the most fouled sides in the Premier League last season (449 - 11.8 per game). Only Tottenham and Aston Villa won more fouls than the Magpies, and this isn’t really surprising when looking at some of the players in the Newcastle squad:

• Bruno Guimarães - 2.96 fouls won p/90

• Joelinton - 1.31 fouls won 0/90

• Tonali - 1.68 fouls won p/90

• Gordon - 2.61 fouls won p/90

(All 24/25 PL) 

The midfield alone carries so many potential fouls for Liverpool, as well as an attacking line for Newcastle which is bound to exploit the gaps in the Reds’ backline. Newcastle drew 13 fouls from Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the season.