Liverpool vs Newcastle United
A PLENUM OF INTEGRITY
I have to admit I quite like Newcastle. Their fans are very similar to Liverpool fans in their love of the game and enthusiastic commitment to their club. But also like Red I fondly remember the FA Cup Final against them in 1974 when Shankly was still in charge and we won 3-0 with goals from two of my boyhood heroes, Kevin Keegan (2) and Steve Heighway.
I was just 18 at the time and worked with an old Geordie (he must have been 30 at least) called Frank Clarke who bet me £2.00 (the price of a small house in London at the time) that Newcastle would win. Looking back now, I think he was just engaging with and humouring a rather enthusiastic young Liverpool supporter who was still coming to terms with a new work environment. He probably wouldn’t actually have held me to the bet had they and he won but, of course, he still honoured the bet when they lost.
This was when the FA Cup was still a major trophy and highly regarded by players and fans alike. I can imagine one day in the far future when “old” Matty will be telling disbelieving young whipper snappers on 4KK (the multi media market leader) how he can still remember when the Champions league was a trophy worth winning….
The other link with Newcastle of course is that Keegan went on to both play for and manage Newcastle. Which takes me on to 1996 and another great match between the two sides in which Liverpool, managed by Roy Evans, beat a Newcastle side, managed by Keegan, 4-3 with dog lover Stan Collymore scoring the injury time winner. Happy days.
It looks like Nat Phillips has settled nicely into the role of a Liverpool CB and is going to miss another game with injury, though it looks like young Curtis Jones will be back and fingers crossed Jota will be ok too. Team: Alisson. TAA. Fab, Kayak. Robbo. Gini, Curtis, Thiago, Firmino, Jota, Salah (yes Jota in to give Mane a break)
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