Liverpool must be at their best on Wednesday evening against Newcastle United at St James' Park if they are to prove themselves worthy of winning the Premier League, Reds expert David Lynch has warned.
After beating reigning European champions Real Madrid last Wednesday, as well as reigning English champions Manchester City on Sunday, Liverpool fans could be forgiven for feeling confident heading into the Christmas period.
Indeed, Arne Slot's side are nine points clear in the league and the team have won 18 of their 20 matches under the Dutchman.
However, the Merseysiders face Eddie Howe's Newcastle United on Wednesday, and Lynch has called the side to take the game as seriously as possible, telling Sports Mole: "Rivals - Arsenal fans in particular - are looking at this as a potential banana skin. Obviously, they were beaten by Newcastle at St James' Park early in the season.
"I just think Newcastle are very good. I know their form [has] dropped away a little bit, but I think Wednesday evening under the lights at St James' Park is going to be a loud, tricky atmosphere."
Newcastle are no pushovers
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The Toon have not won in two having drawn 1-1 with Crystal Palace on Saturday and lost 2-0 against West Ham United on November 25.
Their draw with Crystal Palace was somewhat alarming, with the team only producing 0.02 xG while facing nearly 2.5 xG themselves.
Despite their struggles, Wednesday's hosts still boast a strong record against the division's best considering they have beaten Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Arsenal this campaign, and also held Manchester City to a 1-1 stalemate in late September.
Newcastle's performance during their 1-0 victory against Arsenal in early November was particularly impressive given they managed to limit the impact of Bukayo Saka thanks to their aggressive approach out of possession.
Lynch was keen to highlight their record against the elite as reason for Liverpool to treat the game with the respect it deserves, and saying to Sports Mole: "I remember going there a few years back when [Jurgen Klopp] was in charge for a 5.30 kick-off on a Saturday, and he asked us in the press conference after, 'is there some kind of rivalry that I don't know about?'
"It is a tough place to go and you've got players who run their socks off and will press you to death. They've got quality up there as well. Anthony Gordon's a fantastic player and Liverpool know that themselves - they really like him, their recruitment staff.
"If Newcastle are on song, it's a really, really tough place to go and they've taken some big scalps already this season."
What would a Liverpool victory mean?
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Liverpool's main title rivals will also be playing on Wednesday, with Manchester City set to take on Nottingham Forest and Arsenal set to host Manchester United.
While both sides will head into those matches as favourites to win, it is important that the Reds maintain their significant points advantage for as long as they possibly can.
When the Merseysiders won the Premier League in 2019-20, they did so by building an unassailable lead in the first half of the season.
Though their current nine-point lead is by no means unassailable, victory against Newcastle could be important in helping the Reds to repeat their success from the 2019-20 season.
When speaking to Sports Mole about Liverpool's chances against the Magpies, Lynch said: "You've got to go there and prove [themselves] and go up against a Newcastle side whose form has started to slightly tail away recently, which is beautiful timing for Liverpool. So it's a good opportunity to go there and make a statement.
"They'll be well aware that Newcastle are better in those big games, and you can see why because you look at the makeup of the side and they do have a lot of pace on the break.
"Fortunately, I don't think this is one where [Liverpool] go in and underestimate how tough this one is. They'll know how tough it was last season [when] they faced Newcastle. So they'll know they've got to go there and put on a good performance if they're going to come away with three points."
Sports Mole editor Barney Corkhill spoke with Liverpool expert David Lynch to discuss the Reds's upcoming game against Newcastle United can be caught by the trailing pack in the Premier League title race.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Lewis Nolan
