ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE ACTION : Having now arguably reached the status of Premier League champions-elect, Liverpool hope to pass another challenging test of their title credentials at home to Newcastle United tonight.
The Reds' lead at the summit stretched into the double figures when they overcame Manchester City 2-0 on Sunday, a couple of hours after the Magpies' absorbing 4-3 win over Nottingham Forest.
With Liverpool's lead at the top of the table now standing at eleven points, it's fair to say they've been in a class of their own in 2024/2025. As strong as Newcastle have been at time, it's hard to look past a home win here.
A handful of times Arsenal have failed to capitalise on Liverpool dropping crucial points in the Premier League title race, but after the injury-riddled Gunners were slain by West Ham United on Saturday, Arne Slot's relentless Reds did not let such a golden opportunity pass them by.
Also benefitting from rivals' fitness woes at the Etihad Stadium, Liverpool kept an Erling Haaland-less Man City at bay without too much trouble and delivered two killer blows at the other end of the field through the mesmerising Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai in the first half.
Game in hand or not, Arsenal's 11-point deficit to the league leaders now feels increasingly insurmountable, and after a run of four games across all competitions where they failed to truly convince in any of them, Liverpool's professional display in Manchester was the epitome of a champions' performance.
While the Reds remain unbeaten on the road in the 2024-25 Premier League season, Slot's crop have quickly rebuilt the Anfield walls since September's shock loss to Nottingham Forest, avoiding defeat in each of their last 17 home contests and scoring at least two goals in all of them.
The hosts' slender 2-1 success over Wolverhampton Wanderers two weekends ago marked their fifth straight victory on their own patch, and midweek Premier League matches also tend to bring out the best in Liverpool, who have won each of their last 12 top-flight games played between Tuesdays and Thursdays.
In customary fashion, Slot and his Liverpool troops are staying as grounded as possible while the title race is still mathematically alive, and the league leaders will certainly take nothing for granted against a Newcastle side whose marksman they may be envious of.
As Darwin Nunez flounders at the tip of the Liverpool attack, Alexander Isak flourishes in the Magpies' setup and reached 19 goals for the Premier League season in Sunday's thriller with Forest, where Jacob Murphy and Lewis Miley also contributed to the cause.
Set-piece failings in the second half made the contest far nervier than it should have been in the second half, but Eddie Howe's men just about bested their fellow high-flyers to go level on points with Man City, who are only keeping them outside of the top four on goal difference.
Newcastle surviving that late Forest fightback ensured that they would avoid the humiliation of three straight Premier League defeats, but Howe's men have lost their defensive steel again, conceding nine goals across their last three games and failing to keep a clean sheet in five in the top flight alone.
Clashes between Liverpool and Newcastle almost always promise a glut of goals, and Howe's men are always a force to be reckoned with in the final third too.