Howe claims that inconsistent Newcastle needs to be faultless at Liverpool

Manager Eddie Howe is adamant that Newcastle United must be at or near perfection on Wednesday in order to have any chance of stopping Liverpool’s Premier League title march.

On Sunday, his club defeated third-place Nottingham Forest 4-3 in a wild game to climb into fifth place, but Howe was not thrilled by the way his team gave up a 4-1 lead.

Newcastle has lost three of its last five league games, including crushing defeats at home against Bournemouth and away to Manchester City, despite winning eight of their previous eleven games.

Howe is worried about this discrepancy because he is aware that Anfield cannot afford any mistakes.

“From our perspective, we need to be close to a perfect game,” Howe stated during his news conference prior to the game.

“We may start by learning from our recent match against Manchester City, where we failed to carry out the aggressive game plan we had in mind.

“Anfield is a fantastic place to play football, but it’s not good if you’re not truly there. We need to learn from that.” We need to be aware of that and make sure we show up. It’s enormous from a psychological standpoint. We must get off to a strong start and be a threat in the game since it’s an emotional stadium.”

With a League Cup final against Liverpool next month and the possibility of an FA Cup run added to their push for Champions League qualifying, Newcastle supporters are delighting in what is turning out to be a fantastic season.

“We have been annoyed by ourselves in certain games. However, 13 wins out of 16 (across all contests) isn’t a bad record,” Howe stated.

“I’d certainly take that again in the next 16 games.”

While Howe stated that it would be difficult to silence Mohamed Salah at Anfield, Newcastle also has a player in Alexander Isak who will cause concern for Liverpool manager Arne Slot.

Isak scored two goals against Forest to reach 50 Premier League goals in 76 games since arriving. In fewer games, just six players have joined the Premier League’s 50-goal club.

“You put that together with when he first came to the club – my memory was like just a lot of relegation – so it wasn’t as if he was joining a team that was right at the top of the league and free scoring in that moment,” Howe continued.

“We needed to make an effort to become that group. But in my opinion, he has arrived at the club with a positive attitude, willing to assist the team, and determined to succeed. I’m thrilled for him because he hasn’t been self-centered over that time and has always played for the team.

With winger Joelinton nearing a comeback and defender Sven Botman healing from an injury he suffered at the beginning of the month; Newcastle may have the Dutchman available for the trip to Liverpool.