Hello everyone! Welcome to our liveblog of Newcastle vs Liverpool.

I’ll let you have a look at the teams while I wash the last bit of Halloween face-paint off after last night.

Mario Balotelli scored a nice goal against Swansea in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday but his league form has been awful. He missed a lot of chances against Hull last week – do any of you think he will turn it around today?

Balotelli has arrived.

How do Liverpool feel about Brendan Rodgers’ performance this year? His interviews have been… well, they’ve become even more David Brent-like.

Someone mentioned this in the comments section but this fixture has had more goals than any other in the Premier League era.

For any punters out there looking to have a bet, here are the odds.

Steven Gerrard said earlier in the week that he might leave the club in the summer if he doesn’t feel wanted – what do Liverpool fans make of that?

And Newcastle fans, what do you think of the job Alan Pardew has done over the last few weeks?

Get yourself in the mood for today’s game with a lookback at Liverpool’s cracking 4-3 win over Newcastle in the mid-90′s.

We are off!

Balotelli gets the first touch out on the right hand side. It seems he is playing on the wing with Coutinho in the centre.

Liverpool are going for three at the back with Skrtel, Lovren and (gulp) Glen Johnson at centre back. Attacking formation from Rodgers.

Sammy Ameobi makes a great run down the left wing but Skrtel slides in to win the ball well just outside the box.

5 mins - Some good work by Liverpool as Coutinho and sterling combine but the youngster’s cross into the area is dealt with by the Newcastle defence.

9 mins – PENALTY CLAIM! Moreno can’t deal with Obertan and the winger races into the right channel of the area. He cuts it back for Sissoko who’s challenged from behind by Joe Allen. He goes down and there are huge shouts for a penalty. But Andre Marriner is having none of it.

Just catching a replay of that penalty claim and I reckon Allen got a decent slice of the ball. He came at it from a dodgy angle but there was enough contact for me. Marriner with a good decision. But I feel he looked to the assistant referee for some guidance too.

Liverpool are pushing Moreno very high on the left side and some interesting tactics from them when going forward. Will keep an eye on developments.

18 mins – Some good work by Liverpool down the right as Sterling and Coutinho combine again. Still no clear-cut opportunity though and Balotelli has seen little of the ball in the area.

21 mins – That’s more like it. After a bit of a lull, Ameobi does well down the left and whips in a superb cross that Skrtel does well to deal with. But Newcastle keep up the pressure before they’re almost caught on the break when Henderson bounds forward. But there’s another interception and the hosts hit back once more to force a corner. Great end-to-end passage of play.

26 mins - This is a real blow for Newcastle. Obertan was having some joy down the right side, especially with Moreno bombing forward so much. But he’ll have to come off because it looks like he’s picked up a thigh muscle injury.

27 mins – SUBSTITUTION! Aarons (on) – Obertan (off)

Confirmation of the change then. Rolando Aarons, who scored the first goal against Manchester City in the Capital One Cup win midweek, comes on and he’s got blistering pace. Positive switch from Alan Pardew. Aarons takes up a position on the left and Ameobi switches to the opposite flank.

30 mins - An interesting half hour but the game desperately needs a chance or two to properly liven up. The penalty claim certainly the biggest talking point while Newcastle have handled the likes of Sterling and Balotelli very well so far. It’s been very disciplined from the hosts but Liverpool need some individuality. Could it come from Coutinho, perhaps?

35 mins – From a good position, Abeid fires a free-kick into the Liverpool wall and it deflects out for a corner. From the set-piece, the guests deal with it and a decent opportunity fizzles out.

37 mins – VERY CLOSE! From a Newcastle corner, Mignolet gets nowhere near it and Cisse heads towards goal only for Glen Johnson to clear off the line. Closest we’ve come. Moments later, the keeper struggles again under a corner but Liverpool manage to deal with it.

40 mins – CLOSE! Well, the game has a bit of a narrative now. From a Liverpool corner, Skrtel arrives at the near post at pace and bullets a header narrowly wide. It was a really good chance as the centre-half was afforded plenty of space. As he dusts himself down, he’s fully aware of just how good an opportunity it was.  

Also, this happened a few minutes ago when Abeid was lining up that free-kick. Not quite sure what purpose this serves, to be honest.

44 mins – Sissoko with what he does best. Driving towards the Liverpool box from deep, he’s about to pull the trigger when Skrtel clatters into him. It’s a free-kick in a great position.

Skrtel’s been booked while Steven Taylor has also picked up a yellow card after trying to block Mignolet’s line of vision again.

And after all that, Cisse blazes it over the top. A metaphor, maybe.

47 mins – If you’re a Liverpool fan and scare easily, Mignolet is definitely bad for your health. He tries a Cruyff turn in his area as he’s closed down and barely gets away with it. What’s is abundantly clear is that he’s not Manuel Neuer.

And that’s half-time! Pretty turgid stuff, to be honest. Very safe from both sides and outside of a couple of half chances and a penalty claim, there’s not been much in the way of talking points. Newcastle will be happy but Liverpool have offered very little and their biggest players like Sterling and Balotelli have struggled to get a foothold in this. Coutinho has offered some probing runs but not much else.

46 mins – SUBSTITUTION! Perez (on) – Cisse (off) 

Interesting switch with Pardew probably feeling Newcastle need something a bit different.

47 mins – Johnson hasn’t been great today and cheaply surrenders possession in a really dangerous area – right on the edge of the area. It leads to a half chance involving Aarons and new-boy Perez but Liverpool clear.

Sissoko has just been booked for a nasty challenge on Allen and from the resulting free-kick, Balotelli strikes an effort straight at Krul. It bounces awkwardly in front of the keeper but he does well to get behind it and smother.

Just seen footage of Balotelli racing onto the pitch just as the second half was just getting underway. Very strange. As if people needed any more ammunition. Again, it’s largely irrelevant but, as we saw with Tottenham last weekend, it can lead to on-field issues.

55 mins - Balotelli picks it up on the edge of the area and looks to whip it to the far corner. But there’s not enough bend on it and it’s pretty comfortable for Krul, who easily envelopes it between his gloves.

57 mins -VERY CLOSE! Stunning stop from Krul after Coutinho sends a close-range header towards the near post. But the linesman’s flag is up and it wouldn’t have counted anyway. But Krul didn’t know that. On the replay, Coutinho is level with the last man and that’s a poor decision from the officials. Wonderful stop though.

Interesting call from Rodgers…

60 mins - Dummett smacks a shot from about 25 yards and it’s well-struck. Just a little too high but a solid effort.

Nice bit of aggression from the two sides as they battle for possession. Balotelli does well to get the ball and slips away from Daryl Janmaat who absolutely cements him with a ridiculous challenge. He’s very lucky to only pick up a yellow.

100% accurate…

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66 mins – SUBSTITUTION! Borini (on) – Allen (off) 

Borini has a superb record against Newcastle and that’s probably factored into Rodgers’ decision. Can he pop up with a poacher-like winner?

66 mins – SUBSTITUTION! Cabella (on) – Ameobi (off)

Another offensive swap for the hosts with the Frenchman coming in.

70 mins – CLOSE! That’s better from Liverpool. Gerrard clips in a ball to the edge of the area for Sterling to get in behind. He chests it down brilliantly for Borini who pulls his shot slightly and it fizzes wide of the far post. Nice approach though and there needs to be plenty more of that for the next 20 minutes.

73 mins – GOAL! Perez! 

Well, that’s awful defending from Liverpool. Newcastle charge down the left and when it’s worked into the area, Moreno makes an absolute mess of it and Perez smashes it to the net.

77 mins – VERY CLOSE! It should be 2-0. Moreno makes another mistake and suddenly Cabella is running towards goal with no Liverpool defender around him. He tries to give Mignolet the eyes but the keeper sticks out a leg and brilliantly keeps his side in the game. Amazing last few minutes.

Here is the goal. How do you explain the inexplicable?

80 mins – SUBSTITUTION! Lambert (on) – Coutinho (off)

Last throw of the dice from Rodgers as the ex-Southampton man is brought in. Brace yourselves for a massive final ten minutes.

81 mins – CLOSE! This is opening up now, quite inevitably. Liverpool push forward and leave gaps. Sissoko exploits one of them and smacks a low effort towards the near post but Mignolet gets down and makes the save.

With the changes up front, Liverpool now have Balotelli wide left. He’s just swung in a cross for Moreno and it comes to nothing. Very odd that Rodgers brings in the likes of Lambert and Borini to try and scrape a point against Newcastle while his big-name striker is playing on the flank.

89 mins - Personally, I can’t stand this. It’s the 89th minute, you’re chasing the game and Cabella goes harmlessly towards the corner flag. Lovren gets frustrated and clips his ankles to bring him down, conceding the free-kick. Infuriating.

Into the last minute of injury time here…is there going to be a miracle moment?

And the answer is no. Because the full-time whistle goes and Newcastle have conjured all three points here.

Four wins in a row for Newcastle now and they’re up to 9th in the table. But a really poor performance from Liverpool who are really, really struggling. No urgency, no creativity and a distinct lack of belief.

Balotelli is a neat scapegoat but the problems are larger than the Italian. There’s no service to him from further out the field and he’s being forced to live on scraps. In an effort to salvage something from the game, Rodgers brought in Borini and Lambert, pushing a big-name striker in Balotelli to the wing.

They had themselves to blame for the Newcastle goal owing to Moreno’s mistake while the hosts really should’ve had a second shortly after when another Moreno error led to Cabella being denied by a brilliant Mignolet save.

Thanks for staying with us right throughout our coverage and we’ll have plenty more reaction throughout the afternoon.