‘Close’ - Eddie Howe provides major Sven Botman injury update ahead of Liverpool v Newcastle United

Fresh from a 4-3 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday - one that saw the Magpies take a 4-1 lead in the first-half - they make the trip to Merseyside aiming to do what just one Newcastle United team in the past have managed to do, win a Premier League game at Anfield. In what could act as a dress rehearsal for their Carabao Cup final next month, Howe’s side know that the odds are stacked against them this week.

Liverpool defeated Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday evening to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 11 points. The Reds have lost just one league match this season - although that did come at home in-front of their own fans against Nuno Espirito Santo’s Forest back in September.

If Howe’s side are to replicate that on Wednesday night, then they will need all the help and luck they can get - and that includes having some of their key players back from injury. One of those is defender Sven Botman.

Botman has recently returned to action following a nine-month layoff after suffering an ACL injury back in March. However, the Dutchman hasn’t featured since their Carabao Cup win over Arsenal three weeks ago after suffering another knee injury.

Fortunately for the Magpies, initial fears that Botman had suffered another issue in that same knee were quashed, but a three-match absence since then is far from ideal for the former Lille man. With Liverpool on the horizon, a team Botman netted against last season, Howe was asked for an update on his fitness: “Sven is improving and he’s improving quickly,” Howe revealed.

“We’ll see how he is doing. But he’ll be close.”

Fabian Schar and Dan Burn have played in the middle as part of a back-four in Botman’s absence, but with seven goals conceded in their last two outings, could a change of system be on the cards at Anfield? Howe dropped his preferred 4-3-3 formation for their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg win against the Gunners in favour of five defenders, with Botman playing in the middle with Schar and Burn either side of him.

It was a very brave call from Howe and one that paid dividends as they secured a 2-0 win and progression to the final and United’s head coach has called on a similar mentality and approach to their defensive work this week. “I think Arsenal was a great game to reflect on, in the recent home game in the Carabao Cup. We defended in twos, threes and fours and we had a mentality that we wanted to defend our goal to the highest level and I don’t think we’ve consistently had that in recent weeks. We are going to need that in this game.”

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