· 21 August 2025, 20:00
Liverpool are gearing up to step into an extremely hostile atmosphere at St James' Park on Monday night as they face Newcastle United in the Alexander Isak derby.
Alexander Isak is likely to be nowhere near St James' Park on Monday night, but if you want to play a very dangerous drinking game, take a shot every time his name is mentioned on Sky Sports from 7 pm onwards ... obviously, don't do that because you will die.
The Sweden international is going to be the main focus of all the talk surrounding the game after pushing all summer to get a move to the Premier League champions, and in light of the statements issued by himself and Newcastle United this week, the emotions in the crowd are going to be raw.
We expect the Liverpool fans will be making their voices heard on the situation, which will only stoke the fires. In a sense, what's going on off the pitch could be just as compelling as the action on it.
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We're getting ready for the latest instalment of this great fixture
Chris Sutton has backed a winner for Monday
Where Paul Merson expected a high-scoring draw, Chris Sutton has backed a winner, but he is also expecting goals as he predicts the score for the BBC.
"This match was going to be intense anyway, but the Alexander Isak transfer saga has ramped it up a notch. There's going to be an edge to this one and honestly anything could happen.
"Newcastle go into this game hampered by the fact they don't have a number nine. Isak hasn't covered himself. Newcastle were brilliant against Villa but guess what, they missed a centre-forward.
"A lot has been made about Liverpool's defence, they conceded a couple of soft ones against Bournemouth so there'll be a worry there. But then you look at Liverpool's attack and you think, blimey.
"Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Hugo Ekitike, who had a blinder of a debut and Newcastle wanted to sign. Funnily enough, had Newcastle got Ekitike then Isak would probably be at Liverpool.
"There'll be goals in this. Neither of these sides take a backwards step. I veer towards Liverpool solely because Newcastle don't have a centre-forward. But, are they still capable of scoring goals? Absolutely.
"Sutton's prediction: 1-2"
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Shots from range could be the order of the day on Monday
Let's hope that Paul Merson's prediction is the correct one, or that we can shock everybody and snatch a win.
Scoring goals is going to be a huge problem while we have to centre-forward, but it's not like we're short of players who know where the back of the net is.
If we take some speculative efforts rather than just trying to walk the ball in, we've got a good shot.