Newcastle v Liverpool: Premier League – live!

31 min “We used to call them toe pecks when I was young,” says Ruth Purdue. “Anyway, any toe bung one on one with the keeper is the best type of toe bung in my humble opinion. Ruud did it a few times from what I remember?”

I can’t picture that, though that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. The one that immediately comes to mind for Man Utd is Eric Cantona against City in April 1994. Romario was the best one-on-one toe-bunger I’ve ever seen though.

Also, I bet David Mellor called them toe pecks as well.

30 min Jones turns neatly in midfield and finds Mane on the left. His first-time cross towards Salah is deflected behind for a corner.

28 min This is threatening to become another dismal first-half performance away from home from Liverpool, to go with Brighton, Fulham, Aston Villa and some others that I’ve probably forgotten. It’s hard to fathom, because I don’t think it’s complacency.

26 min “Good evening Robert,” says Simon Whitworth. “I played snow football with my son today. He remarked at how hot it kept us both and asked why Premier League footballers required gloves. He makes a good point.”

It’s rather sweet to hear that, even in his late forties, Roy Keane still plays snow football with his dad.

25 min Milner curls a terrific pass over the defence to Alexander-Arnold, who half-volleys a tame cross/shot into Darlow’s arms. I think he was trying to find Mane at the far post; either way, he didn’t connect properly.

23 min Callum Wilson is pulling onto Phillips at every opportunity, with a fair bit of success. He’s been the best player on the pitch by a mile so far.

23 min “To my eyes, Newcastle have been the better team so far,” says Kári Tulinius . “Liverpool have been oddly misgrooved, not settling back into their rhythm as I expected after last game’s poor performance. Mind you, with the attackers Liverpool have, they don’t really need the whole team clicking, any one of them can win a game on their own.”

That’s a really important point, and one of the things that makes them so devastating. There were a fair few games last season when they didn’t play that well but won games 2-1 through a moment of brilliance and/or demented desire.

20 min “Here’s my toe-poke nomination,” says Stuart MacKenzie, “the second goal in this 3-0 win, from Jurgen Klinsmann.”

Is that a toe poke or the outside of the foot? It’s borderline but I’d say the latter. Either way, it’s a brilliant goal.

19 min Newcastle have a corner, so Yedlin’s cross-shot must have taken a deflection off Robertson. Nothing comes of the corner.

18 min Andy Robertson is receiving treatment. He was accidentally caught on the Achilles by Yedlin when he tried to block that cross shot. He’s limping but he’s going to continue.

18 min “I don’t share your view of Newcastle’s security, even without my hopeful Fulham goggles on,” says Richard Hirst. “They were largely outplayed by Fulham, and without Wilson’s well timed ‘stumble’ would have been Fulham’s third victory, which does not say a lot for them.”

Fulham are a good side, who drew with Liverpool and won at Leicester. We’ll see but I don’t think they’ll go down.

17 min: Another chance for Newcastle! Wilson wriggles away from Fabinho 20 yards from goal and plays a nice angled pass to the marauding Yedlin. He drives a cross-shot that goes through the legs of Robertson and drifts well wide of the far post. Newcastle have started really well, Wilson in particular.

16 min Milner dirties Darlow’s gloves with a crisp low shot from 25 yards. It was a comfortable save for Darlow, low to his left.

14 min “Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “If we’re talking toe-pokes, Dave Narey for Scotland against Brazil in 1982 would have to be up there. According to Jimmy Hill at least.”

12 min: Great block from Fabinho! Longstaff sprays a nice pass out to Wilson on the left wing. He slows down to draw Phillips in and then surges away from him into the area, a classic bit of centre-forward play. Wilson eventually whips a shot from a tight angle that is blocked by Fabinho, stretching in front of Alisson.

12 min “Am I old enough,” says Michael Messenie, “to remember when this match came up every year it was non-stop hype expecting it to be the cracker we witnessed on that night of Collymore/Fowler infamy?”

Well, I don’t know, are you? You’re right, though, that went on for years. It’s like Arsenal and Man Utd now, which is usually trailed with footage of Keane and Vieira from 15-20 years ago.

11 min Liverpool are starting to get some rhythm in their passing. Karl Darlow’s gloves remain unsullied, though, and Newcastle will be happy as long as that’s the case.

9 min Alexander-Arnold’s corner is headed behind by Clark for another. This one is headed away, and life goes on.

8 min Robertson’s first dangerous cross is chested behind for a corner by Matt Ritchie. Liverpool have started slowly but that was a good move.

6 min Murphy’s free-kick from the right is headed not far wide by Wilson. He met it at the near post, 12 yards out, and flicked a header across Alisson that zipped past the far post. Alisson was scrambling across his line, which is telling because he usually plays with a resting heart rate.

6 min Our own Daniel Harris writes in to say that the Brazilian toe-bung comes from futsal, which is played with a smaller, heavier ball. That would explain it.

5 min “I’m hoping for a big Liverpool win as I still think Newcastle can be dragged into the relegation mire and give Fulham another lifeline option,” says Richard Hirst. “Steve Bruce’s negativity can’t help them: complaining about not having any money means anybody they do buy knows they are only a second choice, and those already at the club know they are third choice. Reminds me of D Moyes when he was in the North East.”

I think that’s a bit harsh. Managers moan all the time about not having money. Either way, I’d be pretty surprised if Newcastle went down, certainly if Callum Wilson stays fit.

3 min The corner skims off the head of Clark (I think) and goes wide of the far post. It wasn’t much of a chance; about an tenth-chance if you want the full xG experience.

2 min Wilson mishit cross is pushed over by the stretching Alisson. That would have been an interesting start to the game.

2 min “Re: Ronaldinho’s toe poke against Chelsea in ‘05: I was there at Stamford Bridge that night, and ever since I have often tried the cheeky toe poke during five-a-side games with friends/frenemies,” says Martin Scott. “Sometimes it worked! Mostly it didn’t though, but when it did it was GLORIOUS. Maybe the next Joy of Six should be Toe Pokes? Please consider.”

It would just be a load of Brazilians, and Steve McMahon. Ronaldinho, Ronaldo in the 2002 World Cup semi-final, Romario against everyone. That’s what interests me about the toe poke – it’s seen as the preserve of the oaf, yet it’s most popular in Brazil, where they fully appreciate the element of surprise. I’ll suggest it to the football editor!

The players are ready. It’s a pretty pleasant night in Newcastle, although some forecasts suggest it could snow before the game is over.

“Evening Rob,” says Richard Preston. “Something that always goes under the radar with that Suarez goal is how good the assist from Jose Enrique was. Probably the best thing he did in a Liverpool shirt (admittedly that’s a low bar), and no one knows he even did it.”

Ha, that’s a good point. We should do the Joy of Six: Forgotten Assists.

On reflection, I’m annoyed I didn’t include Suarez v Newcastle in this piece. Maybe it was too fresh in the memory. Shame, as I could have stroked my chin quite beautifully whilst pontificating about it.

“Supporting Liverpool these last few years has involved some tremendous fun,” says Matt Dony. “ There have been astonishing performances, and some unbelievable football leading to fantastic goals. Beauty and bludgeon in equal measure. But, I’m not sure anything has quite matched the insouciant genius of Suarez’s goal against Newcastle.

“I’ve seen many more ‘spectacular’ goals, but nothing that matches that particular combination of unworldly skill, arrogant execution and general air of ‘Try what you want, you can’t stop me’ that Suarez exuded at his best. There have been a number of classic encounters between these two teams (including THAT match, obviously), but these days my thoughts drift immediately to 2012, and a handful of touches that seemed to defy physics.”

This. I love unique goals, and that’s one of the greats. It’s an astounding goal. Never mind the actual touches; the speed of thought alone is beyond comprehension.

“Season’s greetings Rob!” says Martin McCarthy. “There seems to be a fair bit of confidence among Guardian writers that Liverpool are title favourites but with van Dijk and Gomez out for the long term and Matip unable to remain uninjured for long, it feels that defensively A LOT is riding on Fabinho staying healthy for the remainder of the season. Perhaps I’m allowing my natural pessimism to get the better of me though…”

Do you think they’ll buy in January? It’s tricky because if they buy a top-class centre back, what happens to Gomez (and even Fabinho) next season? The best thing might be to loan a solid, experienced centre-back, though nobody comes to mind.

“Hi Rob,” says David Wall. “At what point can you say that there is a genuine contest for the title? Almost half of the season has been played and there are six points between the top nine teams (yes, Liverpool can go five points clear this evening but they’ll have then played a game more than most other sides).

“I saw that Solskjaer was trying to play down the idea yesterday, suggesting you couldn’t really say there was a proper contest until about 30 games had been played). But last year the title was almost decided by this point. And considering that no side has shown any likelihood of achieving the kind of consistency Liverpool had last year then you’d expect it to stay pretty close from here, wouldn’t you? Or is it really too soon to tell, especially with there being so much uncertainty about fixture scheduling, the effects of infection on players, potential breaks in any football at all, and so on?”

This reminds me a few of the seasons in the 1990s (and 2001-02, the great forgotten title race), when the table was often very tight at Christmas before one or two teams pulled away with crazy winning/unbeaten runs. I’d expect the same to happen here with Liverpool and Manchester City (if Sergio Aguero stays fit).

United are the most intriguing element of the title race. If they win at Anfield in January it will make things deliciously interesting, but my feeling is it’s still too soon for them to challenge. I said Liverpool by 10+ points at the start and I’m sticking with that. If I was a Liverpool fan I’d be slightly worried about how little Jurgen Klopp rotates, but I still think they’ll be too good.

Some more pre-match reading

Spurs were supposed to be playing Fulham right now, but the match was postponed at the last minute because of a Covid outbreak at Fulham. That didn’t impress Jose Mourinho much.

Steve Bruce has made one change to the Newcastle side that lost 2-0 at Manchester City on Boxing Day: Callum Wilson replaces Miguel Almiron.

There’s some positive injury news for Liverpool, with James Milner returning to the starting line-up and Thiago Alcantara among the substitutes. Nat Phillips starts at centre-half in place of the injured Joel Matip.

Newcastle (3-4-2-1) Darlow; Clark, Fernandez, Schar; Yedlin, Hayden, M Longstaff, Ritchie; Murphy, Joelinton; Wilson.
Substitutes: Dubravka, Lewis, Krafth, Shelvey, Hendrick, Almiron, S Longstaff, Carroll, Gayle.

Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Phillips, Fabinho, Robertson; Jones, Henderson, Milner; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Substitutes: Kelleher, R Williams, N Williams, Wijnaldum, Thiago, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri, Minamino, Origi.

Referee Paul Tierney.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Newcastle v Liverpool from St James’ Park. It’s the last Premier League game of 2020, and Liverpool’s final match of a momentous year in which they won their first league title since 1990. Their title defence hasn’t reached the same awesome heights, at least not consistently, but they are still top and will move five points clear of Manchester United if they win tonight. It’s not exactly a crisis.

Newcastle have had a decent season in terms of results, especially given the Covid outbreak that hit them so hard, but there has been the usual discontent over their style of play. They won’t be turning into Brazil 1970 tonight, understandably so given the opposition. If Newcastle draw 1-1 through a thrice-deflected 94th-minute goal from Jonjo Shelvey, having had 4 per cent of the possession, they’ll have had a good night. Any change in style will have to wait till next year.

Kick off 8pm.