{"id":4023,"date":"2025-02-24T19:20:36","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T19:20:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/02\/24\/gakpo-to-start-predicted-4-2-3-1-liverpool-lineup-to-face-newcastle-united\/"},"modified":"2025-02-24T19:20:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T19:20:36","slug":"gakpo-to-start-predicted-4-2-3-1-liverpool-lineup-to-face-newcastle-united","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2025\/02\/24\/gakpo-to-start-predicted-4-2-3-1-liverpool-lineup-to-face-newcastle-united\/","title":{"rendered":"Gakpo To Start? | Predicted 4-2-3-1 Liverpool Lineup To Face Newcastle United"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>Despite Manchester City\u2019s dismal run of form, a league double over the reigning champions is a statement from Liverpool who clinched a commanding 2-0 at Etihad to go 11 points clear of second-placed Arsenal at the top of the <a href=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/category\/leagues\/english-premier-league\/\">Premier League<\/a> standings. The Reds, under Arne Slot, showed their defensive dominance on Sunday evening but are expected to exhibit their usual pressing and passing football while hosting Newcastle United on Wednesday night at Anfield.<\/p>\n<p>The Magpies edged past Nottingham Forest in a seven-goal thriller at St James\u2019 Park. An impressive run of results has brought them back into the \u2018top four\u2019 race, however, Eddie Howe\u2019s men must showcase more composure at the back, particularly after a 4-0 defeat against the depleted Citizens in their previous away fixture. These two sides shared the spoils in the reverse tie back in December, and <a href=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/category\/leagues\/english-premier-league\/liverpool\/\">Liverpool<\/a>, humbled by an injury-time equalizer from Fabian Schar, must avoid a similar setback having drawn with Everton and Aston Villa over the past two weeks.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Defence<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A clean sheet against the Skyblues must boost the confidence of Alisson Becker who missed the St James\u2019 Park encounter due to an injury concern.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_320382\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-320382\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-lazyloaded=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2188254916-2048x2048-1.jpg\" alt=\"Liverpool midfielder Curtis Jones in action against Newcastle United\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2188254916-2048x2048-1.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2188254916-2048x2048-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2188254916-2048x2048-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2188254916-2048x2048-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2188254916-2048x2048-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2188254916-2048x2048-1-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/gettyimages-2188254916-2048x2048-1-1140x760.jpg 1140w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-320382\">NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND \u2013 DECEMBER 04: Curtis Jones of Liverpool is tackled by Anthony Gordon of Newcastle United during the Premier League match between Newcastle United FC and Liverpool FC at St James\u2019 Park on December 04, 2024 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Stu Forster\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Trent Alexander-Arnold had a hard time against Jeremy Doku. The England right fullback would be targeted by his compatriot Anthony Gordon who holds a similar profile as to dribbling, mazy runs and swift footwork from the flank. Andrew Robertson, a shadow of his earlier self, should still get the nod over Kostas Tsimikas down the left. Both Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk were rock-solid against City after a few below-par performances, and the gaffer must rely on the pair with Jarell Quansah being the only other alternative in deep defence amid Joe Gomez\u2019s injury absence.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Midfield<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Ryan Gravenberch is irreplaceable deep down the midfield given his control and confidence with the ball on his feet. Not only does he break down the opponents\u2019 moves with timely interceptions but also stages swift attacking transitions with smart one-twos, link-up play and passes into the final third. The box-to-box movements and creative spark of Alexis Mac Allister would be key to creating chances high up the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Dominik Szoboszlai delivered a monstrous performance last weekend and the gaffer could restore him as a \u2018number 10\u2019 ahead of Curtis Jones who also impressed against City while spearheading the attack alongside the Hungarian. Slot should opt for a more attacking set-up with two outright wingers in Mohamed Salah and fit-again Cody Gakpo. Gakpo was brought in as a late substitute after a brief injury layoff, and Salah, with a 50-goal contribution already across competitions, would look to add more to his tally this midweek.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Attack<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Neither Diogo Jota nor Darwin Nunez looked sharp enough high up the pitch, and the Dutch boss could prefer Luis Diaz as a \u2018number 9\u2019 in the starting XI.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/this11.com\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-lazyloaded=\"1\" width=\"336\" height=\"515\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/this11.com\/play\/ab3WEZ9ahS.png\" alt=\"football formations\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img data-lazyloaded=\"1\" alt=\"Pratyay Maitra\" src=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/99caba795be581dd389be17783993c42.jpg?ver=1739945983\" srcset=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/42284f8e6bd8d7f416c18e12e1851881.jpg?ver=1739945983 2x\" height=\"80\" width=\"80\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3> <a href=\"https:\/\/the4thofficial.net\/author\/4thpratyay\/\"> Pratyay Maitra\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/h3>\n<p> A sports enthusiast who reads, breathes, as well as dreams (mostly) about football and attempts to share his views with the fanatics by jotting down a few words.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite Manchester City\u2019s dismal run of form, a league double over the reigning champions is a statement from Liverpool who clinched a commanding 2-0 at Etihad to go 11 points clear of second-placed Arsenal at the top of the Premier League standings. The Reds, under Arne Slot, showed their defensive dominance on Sunday evening but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12953,"featured_media":4024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12953"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4023\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}