Liverpool look to tighten grasp on first with visit from Newcastle

Liverpool can move a step closer toward securing its 20th all-time English league championship when it hosts Newcastle United on Wednesday night in a precursor to their League Cup final meeting in mid-March.

Liverpool (19-1-7, 66 points) begins the midweek slate 11 points in front of second-place Arsenal -- which does have a match in hand -- after a convincing 2-0 victory at fourth-place Manchester City on Sunday.

But unlike Sunday when City was without its top scorer Erling Haaland, Liverpool will have no such respite from top Newcastle marksman Alexander Isak. The Swedish international has 19 league goals and scored twice in the Magpies 4-3 win over Nottingham Forest also on Sunday.

"It is an understatement to say Isak is in fine form," said Liverpool manager Arne Slot. "I think he is in excellent form. The team performance will help us control him. The more ball possession we have, the easier it is to control him, although he is definitely a threat on counter-attacks."

Liverpool have their own exceptional attacker in Mo Salah, who is generating Ballon d'Or hype for what is now a 30-goal, 21-assist campaign in all competitions. That includes 25 and 16 in the league, and one of each Sunday against the same City side who thrashed Newcastle 4-0 at the Etihad two matches ago.

Fifth-place Newcastle (13-8-5, 44 points) rebounded from that City drubbing with the win over Forest and is now even with City on points but five behind on goal difference. And the Magpies have the knowledge they played Liverpool to a 3-3 draw at St. James' Park on Dec. 4.

The top four finishers automatically qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League, with the possibility of the fifth also getting to Europe's top tournament.

"We need to play close to a perfect game," Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said of the trip to Anfield. "I think learning from the recent game against Manchester City would be a useful starting point for us, where we didn't execute the aggressive game plan that we wanted. We didn't attack enough."

Striker Cody Gakpo could be ready to return to Slot's starting lineup after he missed two matches with an ankle injury before coming off the bench against City. Meanwhile, Newcastle should welcome midfielder Sandro Tonali back to its 11 after a minor hamstring issue forced him into a substitute's role against Forest.

--Field Level Media