Newcastle v Liverpool - Match Preview

Liverpool travel to St James’ Park on Sunday afternoon to face a Newcastle side looking to rebound from a disappointing reverse against Brighton. The Magpies will look to continue their excellent record at home against the Reds – having won the last two and remaining unbeaten in the last four.

An emerging narrative from last week’s pedestrian performance was the increasing concern over the finishing prowess of Joselu. Having missed what is now a double hatful of chances in the last two games, doubts have resurfaced about whether Newcastle are equipped with the requisite amount of firepower necessary to stay in the Premier League.

To my untrained eye, Joselu looks to be inherently limited. He holds the ball up well enough, but he lacks conviction in front of goal and seems extremely vulnerable to losng confidence. I obviously hope he proves me wrong, but I can’t be the only wondering where his next goal might come from. The most extreme concern, of course, is that we end up with another Emmanuel Riviere, Luuk de Jong or Seydou Doumbia.

In the immediate though, the question turns to what (other) strikers are at our disposal – and who could potentially fill the void if Joselu proves to be unfit for purpose? With Dwight Gayle still seemingly off the pace, attention has (re)turned to fan-favourite and resident nutter, Aleksandar Mitrovic.

I have to confess, I grow quite tired of the fan-loving of Mitrovic. Benitez is right: he is a liability to the team too often than not, and no amount of shouting, screaming or ‘passion’ can make up for the red cards and various other misdemeanours. Having said that – one might argue that in the face of our current striker who appears shy and unconfident in front of goal – what we might need is someone seemingly never short on confidence, and who clearly does carry the ability to stick the ball in the back of the net. The anti-Joselu, if you will.

The enduring question for Benitez, and for whoever manages him in the future, is how do you harness that raw talent and get him to channel it in positive ways. Perhaps it can never be done completely, but I do feel like the Newcastle fans are onto something when they argue that we shouldn’t let Mitrovic leave prematurely. There is a player there. But can we unearth it?

Until January, Benitez arguably has no choice but to try and find an answer to this question. Persistence with Joselu could well prove suicidal, and at some point we will pressed to finding an alternative. It’s worrying – but Mitro could be the only option.