There are 8 games being played today, including Arsenal vs Norwich, Chelsea vs Cardiff and Manchester United vs Southampton in the 3pm kick-off's.
Team Line-ups:
Newcastle: Krul, Debuchy, Yanga-Mbiwa, Williamson, Santon, Cabaye, Tiote, Sissoko, Gouffran, Ben Arfa and Remy.
Subs: Elliot, Dummett, Anita, Obertan, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi and Cisse.
Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Cissokho, Toure, Skrtel, Sakho, Henderson, Gerrard, Moses, Suarez and Sturridge.
Subs: Jones, Agger, Kelly, Flanagan, Alberto, Sterling and Allen.
12:30 - So we get to see the dangerous duo of Suarez and Sturridge again, with the interestingly named "SAS" partnership being used for the first time since 1995 with Blackburn strikers Shearer and Sutton.
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| Warming up: Liverpool warm up prior to the 12.45 kick-off against Newcastle. |
12:33 - Loic Remy is looking dangerous so far for Newcastle, 5 goals in 5 games and you have to think whether he will join The Toon on a permanent deal at the end of the season from QPR (if they do not get promoted)
12:40 - Teams are walking out of the tunnel onto the pitch, with Gerrard and Tiote leading out their respective teams.
Aly Cissokho plays his first game for Liverpool after a loan move from Lyon on the flank in midfield, with Gerrard needing 1 goal to score a total 100 for Liverpool.
12:45:
0: The referee blows his whistle to start the match off at The Sports Direct Arena.
10: Fairly tame start to the game, not many chances as of yet after a long international break. Not lively and exciting like you would expect from an EPL game, but you cannot really be surprised.
11: Liverpool go on the counter attack with Moses feeding Sturridge just outside the box, but the English striker's resulting effort is not powerful enough to trouble Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul.
13: Remy tries an effort at crossing the ball into the box, but his cross is too fast for a team-mate to catch and the ball goes out of play.
16: Liverpool try to go on another fast attacking move, but Suarez is dispossessed of the ball thanks to a good challenge by a Newcastle defender.
17: Remy goes for another cross into the box, this time it is headed away by Slovakian defender and solid centre-back Martin Skrtel out for a corner. Cabaye to take.
18: The corner is cleared away well by captain Gerrard and Liverpool go on the counter with Moses, but Tiote tackles him and Remy has a 45-yard strike towards goal which flies past goal into the advertising boards.
21: Liverpool's 4th corner of the game taken by Suarez, but a clearance away by Yanga-Mbiwa gives The Reds another corner to try and score.
22: Skrtel has a good chance to head on target, but the header sails over the bar and does not trouble Krul. Newcastle goal-kick.
23: GOAL! What a counter attack! Newcastle find Liverpool exposed at the back and French midfielder Yohan Cabaye hits a strike from 30 yards out which Mignolet dives and parries to save, but the ball falls into the bottom corner of the net.
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| Cabaye cracker: Cabaye scored his second goal of the season with a bullet strike |
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| Cabaye takes a long-range effort from 30 yards out and beats Mignolet to open the scoring |
FACT: That's his 2nd goal in the 2013-14 EPL season.
FACT: Liverpool have now conceded 6 goals so far this season.
25: The game has suddenly exploded into life after Cabaye's goal, with the hosts singing louder than ever and Liverpool looking vulnerable when they are trying to defend counter
attacks.
27: The partnership between Suarez and Sturridge hasn't really worked so far this game, not enough players feeding them the ball but to be fair to them, Newcastle's defending has been very solid at the back.
31: Newcastle pressing high on Liverpool, not giving their opposition much time on the ball with a high tempo of football and closing down the midfielders well and pressuring the strikers so they don't have time to think.
Liverpool look messy and rushed in their attempt to score, it's as if they've never been in a situation where they are losing 1-0 away from home and they are starting to realise that they might not win today if Newcastle keep up the display they are currently showing.
32: Sturridge has to walk off the pitch as his boots have ripped and he needs to get a new pair on the touchline - he is frustrated because his team have a corner and he is unable to do anything about it.
33: But the Englishman gets a new pair of Nike Hypervenom boots and comes off the touchline to rejoin the game.
36: Cabaye tries with another long-range effort, but this time the ball swerves just over the bar, with the Newcastle faithful encouraging the team to keep going and double the lead before half-time.
41: PENALTY! Newcastle are down to ten men after French defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa holds onto Suarez's shoulder to stop him from getting past him in-front of goal.
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| Blatant: Yanga-Mbiwa brings down Suarez inside the box and gets sent off as a result. |
42: Steven Gerrard to step up and take the penalty.... GOAL! The English captain and legendary midfielder slots the ball past Tim Krul who dives the right way but the shot is too powerful to save.
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| Gerrard cooly slotted the ball past Krul into the bottom corner of the net to make it 1-1 before half-time. |
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| Legendary: Gerrard celebrates his penalty to equalise and score his 100th goal in the EPL. |
43: And that just shows how quickly a game can change, from 1-0 up and dominating to 1-1 with 10 men against Liverpool.
45: The electronic board shows 2 minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the first half, where it is 1-1 in an interesting game where the whole face of the match itself has changed thanks to Yanga M'Biwa's dismissal 4 minutes ago.
45+2: Referee Andre Marriner blows his whistle for half-time at The Sports Direct Arena.
13:48:
45: The teams are out for the second half, and the referee blows the whistle to start the second 45 minutes.
53: The second half has certainly started brighter than the first, with Remy having a penalty appeal denied after Skrtel was adjudged to hold him back when he was shaping to shoot, while
56: Newcastle have a free-kick in a dangerous area... can they capitalize? Cabaye with the lofted delivery into the box....
GOAL! substitute and young left-back Paul Dummett is unmarked inside the box and poor defending by Liverpool gives him space to tap past Mignolet into the bottom corner of the net.
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| Unmarked: Dummett takes advantage of some weak Liverpool defending to slot past Mignolet. |
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| Shock: Dummett can't believe his luck after finding himself unmarked in a dangerous position. |
58: Liverpool were dominating the start of the second half, and now they are 2-1 down.
60: Liverpool's powerhouse defender Mamadou Sakho is down on the floor looking uncomfortable after a forceful challenge by defensive midfielder Cheick Tiote who has been dangerous in the midfield not letting much get past him.
62: Loic Remy looking dangerous on the break for Newcastle again, but again Skrtel is there to deny the Frenchman from having a shot on target with a good block.
64: Liverpool SUB:
Mamadou Sakho OFF
Luis Alberto ON
Alberto replaces Sakho who took a knock a few minutes earlier, the Spanish striker has not played much first-team football since his move in August.
68: Newcastle's French striker Yoan Gouffran gets a yellow card for a late challenge.
72: GOAL! Victor Moses finds Suarez on the Liverpool counter attack, and he unselfishly feeds Sturridge inside the box who slots past a helpless Krul to make it 2-2 and score an equaliser.
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| SAS: Sturridge and Suarez celebrate after making it 2-2 with some good team-work. |
SAS are back in business, Liverpool making the most of their counter attack.
78: Liverpool are desperate to score the winner now, with Suarez and Sturridge now looking more lively than they did in the first-half. Newcastle will be happy with the point, they won't mind and they are making a double substitution:
Newcastle SUB:
Yohan Cabaye OFF
Hatem Ben Arfa OFF
Vurnon Anita ON
Sammy Ameobi ON
Pair of fresh legs coming on for Newcastle, with Cabaye playing a good game of football today, linking well with Remy and Ben Arfa on the counter attack.
82: Henderson has a shot which flies over the bar, and The Reds are preparing a change.
84: Liverpool SUB:
Glen Johnson OFF
Raheem Sterling ON
90: The electronic board shows 4 minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the game at The Sports Direct Arena - with Liverpool desperate to score a late winner and move comfortably in-front at the top of the table.
90+2: Newcastle are doing well to keep ball possession and waste away some time so they can hang onto the 2-2 draw and take a valuable point out of the game.
90+3: Luis Alberto has a shot which flies over the bar which Krul had no problems dealing with, he'll take his time with the goal-kick.
90+4: Referee Andre Marriner is in no hurry to blow his whistle for full-time, much to the frustration of Newcastle fans but expectation of Liverpool fans inside the ground.
90+5: The last kick of the game will fall to Luis Suarez, who has a free-kick in a dangerous position after being fouled just outside the box. He steps up to strike the free-kick.... great parry away by Krul and his defenders step up to clear the ball to safety.
The referee finally blows his whistle, and that concludes the afternoon's EPL action from The Sports Direcct Arena. A great, lively game where the final score was 2-2, but Newcastle will feel injustice after going down to ten men just before half-time in a game they were dominating up until this point.
The Reds did well to fight back even though they conceded again after half-time, thanks to goals from Gerrard and Sturridge either side of half-time moves Liverpool 1 point ahead of closest rivals Arsenal, who play at 3pm at home against Norwich City.
You have to wonder whether Liverpool can sustain their early run of form, having had over 10 goalscoring opportunities squandered against a side they should be beating if they want to be title contenders (even though Newcastle are a strong team they are not exactly the best)
Thank you for reading my LIVE commentary post today, I will be back with two more blog posts later on today including coverage and a review of all the other games being played today in the EPL including:
Arsenal vs Norwich
Chelsea vs Cardiff City
Everton vs Hull City
Manchester United vs Southampton
Stoke City vs West Brom
Swansea vs Sunderland
West Ham vs Manchester City - 5.30pm kick-off
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