Key Liverpool star could miss Newcastle United clash due to Premier League rule

Newcastle United have already shown they are up for the battle when they have faced some of the Premier League’s strongest sides at St James Park this season.

Over the last two months, the Magpies have battled to home wins against Chelsea and Arsenal and earned a home draw with a Manchester City side that are looking to claim a fifth consecutive league title this season. Yet perhaps their biggest test of the campaign so far could come in the first week of December when current league leaders Liverpool head to Tyneside looking to extend their impressive form under new head coach Arne Slot.

After replacing Jurgen Klopp during the summer, the former Feyenoord head coach has overseen a run of form consisting of just one defeat in his first 11 Premier League fixtures. The momentum has continued in the Champions League with four wins in as many games and progress has also come in the Carabao Cup as wins against West Ham United and Brighton set up a quarter-final trip to Premier League rivals Southampton.

Although the game will be a severe test for Newcastle, the Reds will head to St James Park knowing their title credentials will be handed a stern examination against a Magpies side that are starting to find the sort of form that led them to a top four finish just two seasons ago. Their cause could be hampered as one key midfielder is currently walking a disciplinary tightrope ahead of Liverpool’s return to Premier League action against Southampton on Sunday afternoon.

Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has received four yellow cards in his side’s last five league games and if he receives a fifth in next weekend’s crunch home clash with title rivals Manchester City, he will be suspended for the Reds visit to Tyneside. The move would come as a severe blow for Slot, who praised the versatility of the former Brighton man earlier this month.

Speaking ahead of the 2-1 win against Mac Allister’s former club, the Reds boss said: “He is a player that I would maybe play in all three positions in the midfield because he is so comfortable in all these three positions. I think he is now in the moment our midfielder that plays a bit in between. So, Ryan (Gravenberch) is almost always the deepest, Dom or Curtis are playing a bit higher and then he’s in between.”

Newcastle duo Fabian Schar and Joelinton are currently in a similar situation to Mac Allister and sit on four yellow cards ahead of next Monday’s home clash with West Ham United. Defender Dan Burn will sit out the meeting with the Hammers as he serves a one-match ban for picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the win at Nottingham Forest prior to the international break.