Liverpool vs. Newcastle predicted line-ups: Magpies' injuries easing plus Mac Allister and Díaz updates

A titanic tussle takes place at Anfield on New Year’s Day when an ailing Newcastle United travel to title-chasing Liverpool, with plenty at stake for both sides in the Monday evening match – and we’ve got all the latest injury news and our predicted line-ups ahead of the first Premier League game of 2024.

The away side are coming into the game on the back of a horrible run of form which has seen them win just one of their last seven matches, and humbling recent defeats have left Eddie Howe’s injury-ridden squad way down the table with eight points separating the Magpies from a top-four spot heading into the weekend. The only good news is that their injury crisis is slowly resolving itself, although there are still plenty of tired legs on the field and quite a few players remain in the physio’s suite.

Liverpool, meanwhile, are flying high and topped the table after beating Fulham on Boxing Day – a win which extended their unbeaten league run to 12 games, a streak which stretches all the way back to defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the end of September. They have a handful of injury concerns of their own, however, and will likely be missing no fewer than seven first-team players for Monday's match.

Liverpool team news

Jürgen Klopp’s biggest injury issues are in defence – the broken collarbone suffered by Kostas Tsimikas against Arsenal is expected to rule him out for at least two months, and with Andrew Robertson (shoulder) out until February and Joël Matip (knee) done for the season, there is both a big void at left-back and a more general lack of depth for Liverpool to deal with. Joe Gomez, who filled in at full-back against Burnley, will likely deputise once more.

Further up the field, we are awaiting an update on the condition of Alexis Mac Allister, who suffered an extremely nasty cut to his knee in the game against Sheffield United and has missed four games already as a result. He is expected to return in January, but the game against Newcastle may come too soon for the wound to have fully healed. There is also some doubt over the condition of Luis Díaz, who was withdrawn from the game at Turf Moor after feeling discomfort in his knee – his substitution has been described as precautionary but we await further news from the manager.

Ben Doak (knee) and Stefan Bajčetić (calf) are long-term absentees, while Thiago Alcântra (hip), who has yet to play a minute this season, could be back from injury soon – although with the former Bayern Munich midfielder so far from full match fitness, it is wildly unlikely that he will feature at Anfield. Portugal winger Diogo Jota, meanwhile, who missed five Premier League matches through injury, is back after coming off the bench for the final minutes at Burnley and could start.

Full Liverpool predicted line-up vs. Newcastle

Alisson; Gomez, Konaté, Van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold; Szoboszlai, Endo, Gravenberch; Salah, Darwin, Gakpo.

Newcastle United team news

The last few weeks may have been extremely hard on the Magpies, but they have at least been able to welcome back players like Joelinton, Callum Wilson, Dan Burn and Sven Botman, all of whom have missed time with a variety of injuries – all are expected to be fully fit by New Year’s Day, which should represent a major boost for Eddie Howe.

And we are likely not too far from seeing the return of a slew of other players, with Jamal Lascelles (hip), Jacob Murphy (shoulder), Elliot Anderson (back), Harvey Barnes (foot), Javier Manquillo (groin) and Joe Willock (achilles) all working their way back to full fitness with at least some chance of featuring in Newcastle’s next league game, away to Manchester City on 13 January. One or two may even play in the FA Cup third round derby game against Sunderland next weekend.

All of which is good news in the long term, but none of those six players will be available for the Liverpool game - and they are still without Nick Pope (shoulder) until April and left-back Matt Targett (hamstring) until February. Sandro Tonali, of course, remains suspended for the season as a result of gambling infractions.

Full Newcastle predicted line-up vs. Liverpool

Dúbravka; Burn, Schär, Botman, Trippier; Joelinton, Bruno Guimarães, Longstaff; Gordon, Isak, Almirón.