That’s all for now! Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to check back later for a full match report from Anfield.
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Here’s a game where the substitutions changed everything. Liverpool let their foot off the glass briefly and it came back to bite them. Not that Newcastle will turn down the gifted point, which they desperately need in their relegation battle.
FT #LFC 2-2 #NUFC A second half comeback means Newcastle leave with a point (via @StatsZone) pic.twitter.com/SJoKoA0wYK
— Stats Zone (@StatsZone) April 23, 2016
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Full-time: Liverpool 2-2 Newcastle
90 min+3: One last chance for Liverpool as Lovren moves quickly up the middle of the pitch and plays it forward. It goes out for an apparent corner but before it can be awarded, the referee blows the whistle for full time.
90 min: Entering the final stages Newcastle seem on track for the most improbable of points. Three minutes of stoppage time forthcoming.
87 min: Ojo surges up the right side and pulls it back to Coutinho at the top of the area but his one-time shot is saved. Liverpool will have a corner.
83 min: Two more subs. For Liverpool, Ojo enters for the goal-scorer Lallana. For Newcastle, it’s the former LFC midfielder Jonjo Shelvey on for Cheik Tiote.
81 min: Liverpool work it up the right flank again and the ball is sent into Sturridge, who heads it weakly toward the goal where the keeper easily scoops it in.
80 min: The corner is turned away but Liverpool have another chance when the ball falls to Stewart, but his one-time shot sailed high and wide over the goal.
78 min: We’re into the final quarter hour and Liverpool have a corner after Lallana surges toward the goal and it’s pushed out by a defender.
75 min: Benitez with Newcastle’s second switch: Cisse off for Mitrovic.
71 min: Two subs for Liverpool. Lucas and Coutinho entering for Randall and Allen. Milner will shift to right back.
Liverpool 2-2 Newcastle (Colback, 66 min)
Newcastle counter after Sturridge loses possession and Jack Colback rips a shot that’s deflected past Mignolet into the goal. As @thisisanfield notes, it’s the second time Liverpool have surrendered a two-goal advantage against the team from the Northeast this year.
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62 min: Another Liverpool corner is turned away. Good counter-attack by Newcastle and the ball is out for a corner. It’s played short and sent into the area, but Stewart meets it in the air and heads it away.
60 min: One hour down and Liverpool appear to have regained their footing after going on walkabout for the first five minutes of the half.
59 min: Milner’s service into the area is headed into the back of the net by Allen but Firmino is ruled offside. It was close but replay confirms he was off by half a yard.
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56 min: Moments after Milner is show yellow for a clattering challenge, he wins a free kick from just near the corner flag. He sends it into the Newcastle area but it’s easily cleared.
52 min: Sturridge tripped inside the area and appeals for the penalty, but while he’s still on the ground Newcastle are countering brilliant. It’s Cisse by himself on the edge of the area but he takes one touch too many, Liverpool’s defenders close in and somehow they escape it. It really should be 2-2!
GOAL! Liverpool 2-1 Newcastle (Cisse, 49 min)
And Newcastle start the second half with the spark and verve they showed to end the first. A long cross from Anita toward the back post is headed home by Cisse and the Toon are back in business!
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46 min: Newcastle have made one change at half-time: Ayoze Perez exits for Georginio Wijnaldum.
Uefa issues statement on Mamadou Sakho
Speaking of, Uefa have issued a statement on Sakho.
UEFA would like to confirm the information communicated by Liverpool FC regarding an adverse finding in a doping test of their player Mamadou Sakho conducted at the UEFA Europa League match between Manchester United FC and Liverpool FC on 17 March 2016 (1-1).
The player and the club have received all the pertinent information and have until Tuesday to request the analysis of the B ssample as well as to provide explanations for the presence of a prohibited substance in the players’ body.
There are no disciplinary proceedings opened at this stage.
Look who’s been spotted at Anfield.
Sakho at Anfield. pic.twitter.com/diHHhf4RlM
— Dave O’Connell (@DaveOCKOP) April 23, 2016
Half-time: Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle
A comfortable opening half for the Reds, who answered the bell nicely with an early goal from Sturridge and Lallana’s follow-up.
A solid first 45 minutes from the Reds... pic.twitter.com/0iBWuWjLwO
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 23, 2016
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44 min: Another shot for Anita, one that sails high and wide over the goal, but no doubt Newcastle’s strongest patch today.
41 min: Signs of life from Newcastle as Anita is played through up the right side and sends it into Cisse, whose header is thudded just wide of the goal
37 min: A note from JR in Illinois, via email:
I can’t quite believe that nobody (save for a very brief mention by announcer Gary Weaver) seemed to notice the incident about 30 seconds before Sturridge scored. I went back and watched it several times. Mignolet came out of his goal to punch the ball. Not only does it clearly look like the ball was outside the box but Mignolet also cleaned Perez’s clock. Looked an awful lot like two yellow card offences. Weird.
Must confess I missed it myself. Will review at the half.
36 min: Another chance for Liverpool as Firmino surges up the right flank and sends it into the area. It appears to be handled by a defender but appeals for a penalty go unacknowledged by the referee.
35 min: Firmino nearly makes it 3-0 on a point-blank chance from inside the area, but a last-gasp challenge by the center back interrupts.
33 min: Tiote, already on a yellow, throws down Joe Allen near the touch line and appears to be a red card waiting to happen. Almost looks like he wants to get sent off.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle (Lallana, 30 min)
Lallana sends a beautifully struck left-footed curler into the top-left corner of the goal. Made it look so easy. A special goal. Moreno again with the assist.
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23 min: Newcastle barely showing a pulse at the moment. A punchless performance so far to be sure. They enter today’s match on a run of nine straight away defeats. The club record is 10, set back in the 1930s, so history may be afoot.
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21 min: Newcastle win a corner and it’s quickly cleared. Tiote shown yellow for a cynical foul on Lallana as the midfielder tries to key a Liverpool counter-attack.
20 min: More great interplay from Liverpool up the right flank. They’re really in fine form at the moment.
18 min: A ball is played through to Sturridge, whose quickly struck left-footed shot toward the upper-right corner of the goal just misses the mark.
16 min: Liverpool threatening again as the ball caroms off a series of defenders in the area. Firmino finally directs a shot toward the goal, but it’s turned away.
14 min: Liverpool’s center back Dejan Lovren is down and the medical staff are out to treat him. He’s sitting up now and Martin Skrtel has sprung from the bench to loosen up, but it looks as if Lovren will re-enter the match.
11 min: Liverpool threatening again after a bit of a rudderless stretch in the middle third. It’s Lallana evading defenders on the edge of the area trying to pick out Sturridge but his pass misses the target.
8 min: The referee stops play as Moreno is down with an injury.
5 min: What a start for Liverpool. The Kop faithful had yet to even finish their first-minute tribute to Benitez – you can probably guess the song – when Sturridge found the back of the goal for his fourth goal in five matches (and seventh in 11 career matches against Newcastle).
4 min: Newcastle win a corner but nothing comes of it and within moments Liverpool move it down the pitch into the final third and are threatening again.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Newcastle (Sturridge, 2 min)
The match is a scant 68 seconds old when Sturridge times his run perfectly, traps a long pass from the halfway line, clinically spins around two defenders and thumps it past the keeper into the back of the goal. A dream start for the hosts.
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1 min: And we’re off! Liverpool attacking left to right toward the Kop end in all-red strips, Newcastle from right to left.
Some thoughts Liverpool’s manager in today’s match programme.
Jurgen Klopp welcomes back Rafa in programme to "place where he has enjoyed many memories and helped create some very special moments" #LFC
— Andy Kelly (@AndyK_LivNews) April 23, 2016
Klopp says he remembers watching #LFC win in Istanbul and thinking "Wow". Iconic moment for #LFC but also football in general he says.
— Andy Kelly (@AndyK_LivNews) April 23, 2016
Despite series of 'good moments' for #LFC recently including Derby, Klopp says still 'much, much, more we have to work on as team and squad'
— Andy Kelly (@AndyK_LivNews) April 23, 2016
Hello and welcome to today’s Premier League tie between Liverpool and Newcastle. The Toon are locked in a relegation battle and currently within two points of safety after a mid-week draw with Manchester City. A win today would lift them out of the drop zone, but three points could prove a tall order against a surging Liverpool side on a run of four straight wins across all competitions, most recently a 4-0 triumph over Merseyside rivals Everton on Wednesday.
With about a half hour between now and kickoff, here’s a look at today’s teams.
Liverpool
XI: Mignolet, Randall, Toure, Lovren, Moreno, Stewart, Allen, Milner, Lallana, Firmino, Sturridge
Subs: Ward, Skrtel, Smith, Lucas, Coutinho, Ibe, Ojo
Newcastle
XI: Darlow, Anita, Lascelles, Mbemba, Dummett, Townsend, Tiote, Colback, Sissoko, Perez, Cisse
Subs: Woodman, Mbabu, Shelvey, Wijnaldum, Aarons, De Jong, Mitrovic
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Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime why not check out Andy Hunter’s preview of today’s match.
Rafael Benítez’s return to Anfield as the interim manager of Chelsea in 2013 was overshadowed somewhat by Luis Suárez’s bite on Branislav Ivanovic. He heads back seeking a favour from his old club in his attempt to keep Newcastle in the Premier League, but Liverpool are not in the form to give one – regardless of what team Jürgen Klopp selects. With Villarreal in the Europa League semi-finals to come next week, Klopp may revert to the much-changed lineup that beat Bournemouth last Sunday.
But there’s also been big news from Anfield already …
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