Press conferenceJürgen Klopp's Newcastle analysis

Just as they did in 2019, the Reds journey to St. James’ Park in between a Champions League semi-final and with three points vital to their ambitions of winning the Premier League title.

Divock Origi’s 86th-minute goal was the difference in a challenging encounter back then and Klopp anticipates much the same against Eddie Howe’s side this time around.

Asked at his pre-match press conference how the Magpies – who are on a six-game winning run at home – have evolved since Howe’s appointment in November, Klopp said: “A lot. An incredible run, hey?

“When our analysis meeting starts and you always see the last 10 or 12 results, it’s green when you win and red when you lost. There’s like green, green, green then red, red, red and then again a lot of green. So they’re obviously in a really good moment and Eddie plays a massive part in that.

“They signed one of our analysts, that’s for sure a big part as well, I have to say. Mark, if you see this – we’ll play a completely different team!

“They do really well, they signed a few good players. That will happen in the future 100 per cent with the power Newcastle is now, and of course they made a lot of change and all these kinds of things. But for this season they brought in smart moves, really brought good players in and just had stability. The players who were there before could grow into a really confident figure as well.

“It’s really good to see what little changes can make and it will be a difficult one for us. It’s similar to a few years ago when we played [at St. James’ Park] between the [Champions League] semi-final, when Divock Origi [scored with a] header/shoulder.

“That was a tough game, that was one of these games where I didn’t understand, what exactly is Newcastle’s problem?! Why do they not like us so much?! The whole stadium was on fire and we have to expect that as well tomorrow.

“It will be tough, but we have to make sure we are ready for that. We have our targets as well, we know we need results and we try to perform as good as it’s more likely than not to get one.”