Liverpool-Newcastle: one week before facing PSG, where are the Reds?

Last rehearsal before the Parc des Princes. Liverpool host Newcastle, one of the strongest teams of this Premier League season, this Wednesday evening (9:15 p.m.), exactly one week before their trip to PSG to launch their 8th final in the Champions League . A double confrontation on which the Reds will be able to focus their energy. Because it is a serene leader of the English championship that awaits Paris at the next turn.

By controlling Manchester City on hostile ground last Sunday (0-2) , Liverpool extended its lead over its runner-up, Arsenal, relegated to eleven points (with a game in hand). A comfortable cushion of advance, and even more than that for some. "This weekend is a turning point. For me, Liverpool will win the title" , announced Jamie Carragher, former glory of the Reds, on the microphone of Sky Sports , recalling that Arsenal "no longer have any attackers available and risk losing more points" .

Liverpool have not left many points, whether in the Premier League or the Champions League. On the star track, Arne Slot's players won their first 7 matches (15 goals scored, 2 conceded), before an anecdotal defeat against PSV Eindhoven (2-3) which did not prevent them from finishing at the top of the standings. Almost invincible, Liverpool has however lost some of its shine at the start of 2025.

Unlike PSG, who have stepped up their game in the big games and seem stronger than ever, Liverpool have had a troubling February. There were two draws against Everton (2-2) and Aston Villa (2-2), a narrow victory against the modest Wolverhampton (2-1) and above all an elimination in their second match in the FA Cup (1-0) by... Plymouth Argile, who are fighting to stay in D2. "It's obviously unacceptable," Arne Slot commented coldly.

Against Manchester City, the club with 19 national crowns did not offer a great performance either. The intensity is lower, the gestures less precise. The sequence of matches weighs heavily, like the aftermath of a cannon start. But the confidence accumulated throughout the season, in all sectors of the game, offers guarantees. It is symbolized by Mohamed Salah, scorer and passer against the Skyblues , also against Aston Villa four days earlier, and by this combination on a corner which allowed the Reds' first goal against City.

"We're gonna win the league," the supporters at Anfield are singing regularly at the moment. "We know how hard we have to work for every victory," Slot moderated. The Dutch coach, who succeeded Jürgen Klopp last summer, advocates "calm" at all times. Newcastle, 5th in the Premier League, have the weapons to disturb the tranquility of Liverpool. From there to sowing doubt in the minds of the Reds before PSG? We are a long way from that.