Newcastle United’s record without suspended star should give Liverpool boost

Liverpool travel to the North East this weekend to face one of this season’s most in-form teams in Newcastle, but the home side will be without their star midfielder Bruno Guimares due to suspension.

The Brazilian was sent off for a bad tackle against Southampton in the second-leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final which subsequently saw him ruled out for three games due to the straight red card. Having missed the last two league games against Bournemouth and West Ham, Guimares will also be absent for the visit for Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Considering how consistent his performances have been for Newcastle this season, his absence is a big boost for Liverpool, as one of the best performing central midfielders in the league this season won’t be able to influence proceedings on Saturday evening.

Without Guimares, Newcastle have simply been a different proposition. Eddie Howe’s side have failed to win any of the five games he’s missed, which is contrasted with a strong record of winning 10 of the 17 games he has played in the league.

Furthermore, Newcastle’s points per game, goals per game, goals conceded per game and shots conceded per game numbers are all dramatically worse without him in the side. It seems that no one can replicate the central midfield role in Howe’s 4-3-3 quite like him and he will certainly be a big miss.

With Liverpool’s midfield struggling this season, they would have enjoyed the fairly comfortable night at Anfield against Everton on Monday, as Everton failed to lay a glove on the Reds. Despite that, there’s still plenty of unanswered questions when it comes to the likes of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, who have struggled against more threatening opposition this season.

One player who did star was 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic, who is likely to keep his place for what will be a sixth successive start. However, the power and energy of Joelinton, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock will certainly be a huge test for the Spaniard and his senior teammates.

Although, their task will be made slightly easier due to the fact that Guimares is missing and that Newcastle have drawn their last two games, as their form has begun to falter. Liverpool remain the only side to beat them in the league, following their late 2-1 win at Anfield earlier in the season, but Newcastle remain unbeaten and home and they still possess the best defence in the league with just 13 goals conceded.

With or without Bruno, Newcastle remain an incredibly hard puzzle to decipher for any Premier League side.