Rob Lee believes that Newcastle United must avoid being on the end of another hiding when they face Liverpool at Anfield on Thursday.
The Magpies are currently in the middle of an extremely testing festive period, where fixtures against the two Manchester clubs will also follow their trip to Liverpool tomorrow night.
Eddie Howe’s side will enter the clash with the Premier League title hopefuls on the back of a heavy 4-0 defeat to Leicester City and so will be keen to avoid a similar result in Merseyside.
Go here for the latest Newcastle United news and updates
Newcastle also currently possess the joint worst defence in the league and they will have to be on the top of their game in order to pull off a major upset.
Via quotes from BETDAQ, former Newcastle midfielder Lee has acknowledged how difficult their task will be against Liverpool but thinks a positive performance could help restore their confidence levels.
He said: "Liverpool at Anfield, with the players they’ve got, it’s going to be a struggle for Newcastle, it’s going to be tough. It’s a tough place to go even when Liverpool are not playing well, but they’re playing incredibly well at the moment.
“They’re scoring tons of goals, Mo Salah is probably the best player in the world at the moment, so it’s going to be a very tough game. If Newcastle are organised they won’t get blown away but Newcastle need points, they need results.
“Nobody is expecting them to get anything over the next few games (against Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United) so anything is a bonus. They’d be happy with a couple of points, or one win. It’s more about the performances.
“They don’t want to get battered again by somebody and the confidence starts to drain. Ideally you want to bring new players in (in January) when the team is playing well. Eddie Howe will be looking at performances – they want a result against Liverpool but don’t want to get battered."
Vote for your NUFC Player of 2021 via the interactive form below
