Now that we've got the nasty, pointless international break out of the way, we can get back to the real stuff.

Yes, it's time for the Premier League to return this weekend and Liverpool will be taking on Newcastle at Anfield in the early kick-off on Saturday.

Form Guide

Liverpool

Liverpool have started this season where they left off last time around and have taken full points so far in the Premier League. As such, they now sit at the top of the table on 12 points.

Liverpool have scored 12 times in the Premier League so far this season, an average of 3 goals per game. They have conceded just 3 times in the same period, an average of 0.75 goals per game. In their previous 4 league games, Liverpool won all 4.

Newcastle

Newcastle have had a mixed bag of results so far this season and now find themselves in 14th place in the Premier League table on 4 points.

They've scored 3 times so far in the league, an average of 0.75 goals per game. Defensively, they've conceded 5 times, an average of 1.25 goals per game. In their previous 4 Premier League games, Newcastle won 1, drew 1, and lost 2.

Head to Head

In the previous 10 meetings between the clubs, Liverpool won 5, Newcastle won 2, and there were 3 draws. Liverpool came away with full points in all of the previous 3 games.

Pre-Match Analysis

Liverpool

Jurgen Klopp will be very happy with the way that his team have started this season and, with a tricky fixture against Arsenal thrown in early on, Liverpool have been looking good so far. The high-performance levels are somewhat surprising since many first-team players were away for most, if not all, of the pre-season schedule due to international games.

The good news for the Reds here is that both Salah and Mane have not had to go away during this 2-week international break so are well-rested for the game against Newcastle. Nevertheless, Alisson still hasn't returned to full fitness yet so there is a somewhat weak area in Liverpool's goal.

At home, Liverpool will look to attack Newcastle aggressively from the start. The best option for Klopp here is perhaps to play a high-pace passing game through the midfield, releasing the ball to the front 3 as quickly as possible. On paper, this should be a routine victory for Liverpool but Newcastle have shown that they can defend well at times already this season so it's not one Klopp will want to see complacency creep into.

Newcastle

Newcastle have done fairly well considering the fact that they replaced world-class manager Rafa Benitez with Steve Bruce in the summer. Nevertheless, they do look weak at times and will need to be at their best to get something out of the game at Anfield.

A major issue at the moment for Newcastle is injuries and they simply don't have the squad to compete with some of the best teams in the league.

Newcastle will know that Liverpool's current weak link is the stand-in goalkeeper, Adrian. He's done fairly well so far but is nowhere near the level of Alisson and has made a terrible blunder already this season, costing Liverpool a clean sheet in the process. Playing long balls into the box whenever possible may seem cheap and nasty but could be an option to try to force an error out of Adrian. Newcastle will need to defend well at the back, however, as Liverpool's attack is well-rested and ready to go.

Prediction

As people often say, "You never know in football", but I can't see anything other than a convincing win for Liverpool here. Home advantage and a much stronger team suggest they'll be the victors but complacency or errors could cost the Reds points if they're not careful.

Odds

• Both teams to score? (no) interests me at odds of 1.73.
• Over 2.5 goals at 1.45 seems a relatively safe bet, too.