Jurgen Klopp has rang the changes at Liverpool since the Anfield side last lost at Newcastle United in the Premier League, with Roberto Firmino and James Milner the only survivors.
The Merseyside outfit have enjoyed an unbeaten run over the Magpies since a 2-0 loss to a Steve McClaren Toon side in December 2015. Liverpool have since won six of the following 10 encounters, including 3-2 and 3-1 wins in two of their last four visits to the north east.
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Newcastle needed a helping hand from Martin Skrtel to break the deadlock for their last win over Liverpool. The Slovakian scored an own goal in the 69th-minute, before future Reds midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum added a second for the Magpies in stoppage-time.
Liverpool’s trip to Newcastle in December 2015 was only Klopp’s seventh Premier League game in charge after replacing Brendan Rodgers. The German had won in three of his prior six at the helm, including a 3-1 victory away to Chelsea and a 4-1 result at Manchester City.
But Wijnaldum put a dent in the Reds’ momentum six months before Klopp paid £25m for the Dutchman’s transfer. He would have opened the scoring but for his shot deflecting off Skrtel’s knee, before rounding off his would-be-relegated side’s action with a scruffy finish.
Simon Mignolet (GK) – Club Brugge
Simon Mignolet guarded the Liverpool net the last time they lost at Newcastle in a Premier League match seven years ago. The Belgian was in his third season with the Reds following a £9m transfer from Sunderland in 2013, and he would remain at Anfield through to 2019.
Klopp sold Mignolet to Club Brugge for £6.5m after paying £67m to buy Alisson from Roma a year earlier. The Brazilian has merited a then-world-record fee for a goalie with his form since replacing Mignolet, who made 204 appearances for the Reds across all competitions.
Nathaniel Clyne – Crystal Palace
Nathaniel Clyne joined Liverpool in the summer 2015 transfer window from Southampton and amassed 103 appearances with the Reds. The former England international instantly gained the first-choice right-back role at Anfield, and held it until the 2017/18 campaign.
Trent Alexander-Arnold emerged from the Merseysiders’ academy to displace Clyne after he missed more than a year through injury. Liverpool eventually released Clyne at the end of his contract in 2020 following a loan spell with Bournemouth, before joining Crystal Palace.
Dejan Lovren – Zenit St Petersburg
Rodgers enjoyed shopping at Southampton and sealed a £20m deal for Dejan Lovren in the summer 2014 market. The centre-half remained at Liverpool until 2020 when sold to Zenit St Petersburg for £11m after playing just 10 Premier League games in the 2019/20 season.
Lovren has played more matches for Liverpool in all competitions at 185 than for any other club in his career. Yet he was not a regular in Klopp’s top-flight side past the ‘17/18 season following a spate of injuries that gave others a chance to seize a spot beside Virgil van Dijk.
Martin Skrtel – Spartak Trnava
Liverpool’s last loss at Newcastle came during Skrtel’s final season with the Anfield natives in 2015/16. The defender had been on the Merseyside outfit’s books since 2008, but Klopp elected to sell Skrtel to Fenerbahce for £5m during his first summer market at the helm.
Klopp felt the Reds could afford to lose Skrtel after Lovren developed a strong partnership with Mamadou Sakho that season. Skrtel’s Anfield career would feature 320 appearances, before later spells at Atalanta, Basaksehir and is currently at Slovakian side Spartak Trnava.
Alberto Moreno – Villarreal
Alberto Moreno spent five seasons with Liverpool between joining from Sevilla for £12m in 2014 and joining Villarreal for free at the end of his Reds contract in 2019. He is currently sidelined after requiring surgery in March for a cruciate ligament tear in his right knee.
The Spaniard left Merseyside with a Champions League winners’ medal from the 2018/19 season. He has since added a Europa League title with Villarreal to his cabinet, alongside a 2013/14 medal with Sevilla. Moreno made a total of 141 outings for Liverpool, assisting 11.
Lucas Leiva – Lazio
Lucas Leiva enjoyed a decade with Liverpool between moving to Europe from Brazilian side Gremio in 2007 and joining Lazio in 2017. Over the years, the midfielder played 346 games for the Reds, and helped to win the Carabao Cup in 2011/12 after Kenny Dalglish’s return.
Leiva is now nearing the end of the contract extension he penned with the Biancocelesti in 2019. The 35-year-old will become a free agent at the end of the season, following 31 Serie A outings so far this term. He also helped Lazio reach the Europa League knockout round.
Joe Allen – Stoke City
Like Skrtel, Joe Allen was one of the Liverpool players who started the last time they lost at Newcastle in the Premier League and left Anfield the following summer as Klopp continued making changes to his side. The Welshman joined Stoke for £13m after rejecting Swansea.
The Jacks were keen on a reunion, per BBC Sport, four years after selling Allen to the Reds for his £15m release clause. He went on to make 132 appearances for Liverpool, eclipsed by the 219 and counting the 32-year-old has amassed as Stoke captain in all competitions.
James Milner – Liverpool
Milner is one of just two survivors of Klopp’s inaugural Liverpool squad, which lost away at Newcastle in December 2015. The 36-year-old moved to Merseyside that summer for free, after leaving Manchester City at the end of his contract with two Premier League titles.
Despite his age, the midfielder is still an important part of Klopp’s plans with 21 top-flight outings so far this season. Liverpool have also prepared a new contract for Milner to keep him at Anfield to 2023, per Fabrizio Romano, with his £140k-a-week terms expiring in June.
Roberto Firmino – Liverpool
Firmino led the Liverpool midfield at St James’ Park when Klopp suffered his only defeat to Newcastle since replacing Rodgers. The Brazilian had moved to Anfield that summer from Hoffenheim for £29m, and scored 10 goals in 31 games in his debut Premier League term.
He also offered eight assists, and has taken his tally to 50 plus 71 goals in 229 games over the following six seasons. Firmino registered his best return for assists during his first full year under Klopp in 2016/17 with 10, and personal-best goal haul with 15 during 2017/18.
Jordon Ibe – Adanaspor
Jordan Ibe joined Liverpool as a youth after developing in Wycombe Wanderers’ academy and progressed to play 58 first-team games. He made his senior debut in May 2013 under Rodgers and assisted the winning goal at home to QPR on the final day of the league term.
Klopp would later show faith in his potential, with 33 outings during the 2015/16 season in all competitions. But the London-born forward did not play for the Reds again after joining Bournemouth for a then-Cherries-record £15m in 2016 and going on to play in 92 matches.
The south coast side eventually released Ibe in 2020 after their relegation. He joined Derby County that summer, but only spent a term at Pride Park for 25 games. Ibe then spent six-months without a club, before joining Turkish side-tier outfit Adanaspor in January 2022.
Christian Benteke – Crystal Palace
Liverpool made Christian Benteke their second-most expensive signing at the time in 2015 by paying Aston Villa £32.5m under Rodgers. But the Belgian could not live up to the price tag while at Anfield, offering just 10 goals and six assists over 42 games in all competitions.
He would spend just one year on Merseyside before Klopp sold Benteke to Crystal Palace for £27m rising to £32m. The striker started just eight Premier League matches under the German, and has gone on to strike 37 and create 12 goals in 175 games with the Eagles.
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