Strong Liverpool squad heads to Newcastle (ESPN article)

by Dave Usher for ESPN

Whenever Liverpool make the trip up the North East to face Newcastle, it usually ends one of two ways: a narrow loss or a big win. There's rarely anything in between. The past 15 meetings between the sides at St James Park have seen the home side win six, the away side seven, with just two games drawn. Of those victories for the Reds, several have been of the thumping variety that have the home fans heading for the exits long before the full-time whistle blows.

Last season was the most recent example, as the shell-shocked Geordies were literally, as well as metaphorically, hit for six by a rampant Liverpool side. That was a result few saw coming as the Reds had been rocked in the buildup to the game with the news that Luis Suarez had been handed a whopping 10-match suspension after his, shall we say, "incident" with Branislav Ivanovic. It appeared to be the ideal time to face Brendan Rodgers' men, yet the Geordies ended up on the wrong end of a six-goal hammering as Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho ensured the feisty Uruguayan's absence was merely a footnote to what was a wonderful attacking performance.

Liverpool exploited the wide-open spaces of St James' and the home side's perennially high defensive line to perfection, with Sturridge and Jordan Henderson rampaging through at will and Coutinho providing the ammunition for them to fire. Liverpool's excellence on the day was beyond question, but without wanting to take anything away from the men in red, it has to be acknowledged that Newcastle were a disorganised, undisciplined mess and that contributed just as much to the unusual scoreline.

There have been other big wins for the Merseysiders at St James' too. In 2009 a Steven Gerrard-inspired Liverpool triumphed 5-1, while the previous year also saw a comfortable win for the Anfield side, as goals by Gerrard, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel secured a 3-0 victory. Going back even further, who can forget the day when a teenage Michael Owen ran riot and scored a sensational hat trick in a 4-1 win over Ruud Gullit's side in 1998?

There have been several losses too of course, most recently when Pepe Reina was sent off as Kenny Dalglish's side crashed to a hugely disappointing 2-0 defeat in 2012. Another one that sticks in my mind was an absolute horror show on New Year's Day in 2003. Salif Diao was dismissed as a Laurent Robert free kick gave the home side the points. Liverpool were wretched that day and the result meant that Gerard Houllier's men had failed to win in 10 successive Premier League games (that run would reach 11 before a 1-0 win at Southampton stopped the rot). For the most part though, Liverpool tend to play well at Newcastle.

Read the full article here.