By Jordan Carreno

Matchday 19 has Liverpool taking on Newcastle at Anfield on Boxing Day. Kickoff is set for 10:00 AM on Wednesday.

Liverpool v Newcastle — 12/26/2018 1500 GMT

Nothing says “festive period football” quite like the traditional Boxing Day matches. It is the perfect chance to break out any new LFC gear that you may have gotten over the holidays. Also, as far as belated gifts go, it is hard to beat a match of football featuring our Reds. As always, all three LFC Tampa Bay locations will be open, serving and showing the match, so come on down and finish the festivities off right. With all that being said, let’s dive into these talking points.

Top of the Table, Under the Radar

If you don’t know by now, Liverpool are currently 4 points clear at the top of the Premier League table. They’ve accomplished this by starting the season with 18 games unbeaten, winning 15, and are currently having the best league season in the 126 year history of Liverpool Football Club. Yet somehow, the Reds are still not favorites to win the title in the eyes of most of the footballing world.

Despite being 4 points ahead of the widely acclaimed “greatest Premier League side of all time”, so few are ready to give this Liverpool side their dues. No one is talking about how great this Liverpool side is, instead they are waiting for it to slip up and hand the reins back to Guardiola and City. If you didn’t know any better, you might think that Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table was an illusion.

Though it would be nice for the Reds to be lauded with the same praise and adoration that Pep Guardiola and his City side have been afforded the last year and a half, being written off and disregarded could play right into Klopp’s hand. Jurgen often speaks about making sure his side remains angry and hungry, so still having a point to prove will give the squad an extra layer of motivation and help to maintain focus. With still so many in the commentary world waiting and ready to pounce on Liverpool’s first mistake as a sign of weakness, it gives little space for the squad to buy into their own hype.

Liverpool have done well under Jurgen Klopp as underdogs. However, when you’re undefeated and atop the heap it can be hard to create that mentality. With the press and pundits still unimpressed, despite the historical standing of Liverpool’s season thus far, it allows the Reds to feed off the feeling of being underestimated. The longer Liverpool can fly under the radar the better, as it will ultimately mean the pressure remains on City. Plus, there will be plenty of time to laud this Liverpool side come the end of the season.

Rafa-valutation

The return of Rafa Benitez with Liverpool top at Christmas gives us a chance to reflect

It is somewhat appropriate that Rafael Benitez should be the opposing manager at the midway point of this season. 10 years ago, Rafa’s Reds were also top of the table at Christmas and were looking to be Liverpool’s most complete and competitive side in the Premier League era. That 08/09 Liverpool team was the culmination of 3 years of work for Benitez as manager of the Reds and, though it fell short in the end, the best team in the Spaniards time at the club.

Ultimately, as we all know too well, that 08/09 team was also the last great team Liverpool would field before its near bankruptcy and relative collapse at the end of the Hicks and Gillett era. What should have been the start of a new age of glory for Liverpool Football Club ended up being the beginning of the end of the Rafa reign. It was the false dawn before the storm.

In many ways the last decade, specifically the years under the stewardship of FSG, has been about getting back to that level of talent on the field. That Liverpool now have a side that is comparable to that 08/09 team speaks to the immense strides the club has made over that time. Though there was the undeniable class of Luis Suarez, it has taken a full decade to field a squad that can boast as much, if not more, world class ability as that Rafa side. It is safe to say that at the very least Liverpool have made up that lost ground.

So, when Rafa steps onto the touchline to manage his Newcastle side, it should serve as the perfect reminder of what the last decade’s journey has been about. Liverpool have had to navigate a tough spell of its history and the signs point to those dark days being firmly behind us. Though the task will not be completed until the club finds itself back among the trophies and titles, accomplishing those goals and being in a place where they seem attainable wouldn’t have been possible without the arduous times of the past 10 years. Whilst there will always be questions of “what if” when it comes to that last great Rafa side of 08/09, we are now at least in a position to move forward rather than backward.

Another Day, Another Bus

There isn’t much debate to be had in how Rafael Benitez’s side will choose to approach the match against Liverpool. Such is the state of Newcastle’s squad and Rafa’s prefered tactics that we are almost guaranteed a defensive and cautious set-up from our opposition. So, Wednesday will once again be a test of Liverpool’s ability to break down a bus.

The Reds have been astute at breaking down teams that sit back so far this season. Whereas Liverpool had been frustrated in recent seasons by teams looking to defend and counter, this year has seen the Reds figure out how to handle teams that don’t want to open up and play. With Newcastle boasting the 7th best defensive record in the league, despite hovering above relegation, it will again be a test of this newly acquired skill for Liverpool.

A return to the 4–2–3–1 will give Liverpool the attacking flexibility to breakdown Newcastle

A lot of this success against packed in teams comes down to a shift in tactics from Jurgen Klopp. No longer does Klopp try to force his tactics onto the opposition, instead opting to adapt and change to a 4–2–3–1 set-up in order to get the most out of his team. The 4–2–3–1 allows Klopp to add another attacker into the foray and creates a fluidity at the front that can be tough for static backlines to mark and defend against.

With Newcastle unlikely to try to come at Liverpool, we should see a return to the 4–2–3–1 which has been re-emerging this season. This tactic will allow Liverpool to get the necessary number of attackers on the pitch to breakdown what should be a back 5 from Newcastle. So far, the 4–2–3–1 has proven to be an effective antidote for teams trying to stifle games at Anfield. Hopefully this trend continues on Wednesday.

Prediction

Once again we stay in the domestic table where I have now taken a lead over David. Friday I picked up 2 points for correctly predicting a Liverpool win with a clean sheet, whilst David only got the 1 point for a Liverpool victory. I currently lead 23 points to David’s 22.

We haven’t fared particularly well against Rafa since he’s been in charge at St James’ Park. In our 3 matches against Benitez’s Newcastle, Liverpool have drawn 2 and won 1. So, we shouldn’t expect any favors from our old boss even though this match is right around the Christmas holiday. The match will largely hinge on Liverpool’s ability to remain patient and avoid getting too frustrated with Newcastle’s tactics.

I expect Liverpool to have plenty of the ball from the first whistle as Rafa’s men look to hold onto a clean sheet for as long as possible with the hopes of nicking a set piece goal up the other end. Jurgen runs the team out in a 4–2–3–1 which sees Shaqiri return to the starting 11. I also suspect that we see Daniel Sturridge in place of Bobby in that 10 role he tried out against Burnley. It takes a while to break down the magpies, but once the Reds do it become fairly comfortable. 3–0.

David’s Prediction: Jordan’s prediction is spot on here, but I’ve got points to make up here, so I’m gonna say we cruise this one, but the boys off the bench, now in starting roles, struggle to hit the back of the net with consistency. Ends up 2–0 to the Reds as Toon barely troubles Alisson.