Newcastle’s First Game under Pardew against In-Form Liverpool

Newcastle will start life under new management on Saturday, as Alan Pardew’s first game in charge will be against old foes Liverpool at St James Park.

Pardew, the former Charlton, West Ham and Southampton manager replaced the much-liked Chris Hughton earlier in the week; a decision which has caused unrest between fans and pundits alike. He becomes Newcastle’s sixth manager in just three years, and will hope to instil stability after signing a five year deal with the top flight team.

“I'm looking forward to a tough job,” Pardew admitted in his first press conference. “It's difficult because it's fairly obvious the players and fans had tremendous respect for Chris [Hughton] and the fact he's gone has caused something of a stir.”

His first squad announcement will be without tough tackling midfielders Danny Guthrie and Joey Barton; however captain Kevin Nolan should be fit after shaking off an ankle problem. Veteran goalkeeper Steve Harper is back in training after a lengthy shoulder injury, but Tim Krul should keep his place between the sticks.

Pardew has history against Liverpool, having lost to them as West Ham manager in the FA Cup final a few years back. The match, which Liverpool won on penalties, was 3-3 after full time. A similar result in Saturday’s match is available at 40/1 – given the history these two clubs have for high-scoring games, it may prove to be a shrewd choice.

There is good and bad news for Reds manager Roy Hodgson ahead of the game: influential striker Fernando Torres will be available after missing the last match to see the birth of his second child, however the club will not risk England midfielder Steven Gerrard, who may return for the next League game against Fulham, along with defender Daniel Agger. Joe Cole may have regained match fitness enough to find a place amongst the starting 11; however Hodgson may prefer to stick with a midfield four that helped beat Aston Villa 3-0 on Monday night.

Having won their last four matches against the North East club, the bookmakers are unanimously pricing Liverpool as favourites; however they do suffer from shocking form away from home, having won only two in an astounding seventeen Premier League games. 

Bet Highlight:
Newcastle’s Andy Carroll will hope this match goes in his sides favour; he’s 11/2 to score either the first or the last goal of the game.

Premier League 09/10:
N/A