Newcastle United v Liverpool early team news as four players ruled out — and £40m duo doubtful

Four players have been ruled out of Newcastle United versus Liverpool — and there are doubts over another two.

Magpies head coach Eddie Howe remains without Joe Willock, although admitted on Friday the former Arsenal midfielder is making “good progress” in his recovery from a hamstring injury.

“I’d say this is probably the strongest he’s looked in terms of his hamstring,” said Howe at this pre-match press conference. “I think he had his hamstring re-scanned a couple of days ago and the report back on that scan was very, very good, no problems.

“He had a bit of fatigue in his hamstring, I don’t think there was a major re-injury but he’s doing really well and committed to his work. We hope he’ll be training with us around the international break time. He’s a massive player.”

Emil Krafth has spent the past 12 months on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury. Similar to Willock, the Swede isn’t expected to resume training until the September international break at the earliest.

Javier Manquillo could make his return from a groin injury this afternoon but it’s likely the Spaniard will be left out of the matchday squad regardless following the summer signings of full-backs Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento.

Meanwhile, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has labelled Ibrahima Konate a doubt due to a muscle injury. The Frenchman has partnered Virgil van Dijk in the heart of the Reds’ defence for the opening two games against Chelsea and Bournemouth.

In a further selection blow, the visitors will be without midfield pair Thiago Alcantara and Curtis Jones.

Klopp said: “Trent [Alexander-Arnold] yes. Thiago from Monday on. Curtis from Monday on. And Ibou is a doubt. Yeah, playing 40 minutes with 10 men didn’t help, let me say it like that. But that’s the situation. The rest should be available.”

Liverpool, however, will have Alexis Mac Allister to call upon after his red card against Bournemouth was overturned.

Asked how much of a relief it was to have the Argentinian midfielder available to face the Magpies, Klopp responded: “Massive, massive.”

He continued: “I saw the pictures back and was pretty sure it was not a red card but I was not sure if our appeal would be successful.

“You don’t have a lot of times when a lot of people agree it should not be a red card. Harsh tackles should always be punished but it was not a harsh tackle. For us it was already tough enough, we were not prepared to play with 10 men. We had to fight through it.”