Liverpool v Newcastle United
Premier League, Friday 30th December 2011 (7:45pm)
Liverpool host Newcastle at Anfield on Friday night in the final match of 2011. The Reds have had a frustrating time at home so far this season and were again held to a draw on Boxing Day.
Our friends from EA Sports Player Performance Index provide some interesting stats ahead of the game:
• Liverpool were held to a draw against bottom of the table Blackburn in their last game
• In a week in which he was handed an eight match ban, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez covered the most ground for Liverpool covering 6.12 miles for the team
• Liverpool have now failed to score twice at Anfield since September
• Steven Gerrard was brought off the bench to try to salvage a point in that game. Despite playing a limited part this season through injury, Gerrard has the second best minutes per cross delivered ratio in the league, delivering a cross every 14 minutes 23 seconds he has been on the pitch
• Maxi Rodriguez scored his second goal of the season for Liverpool to secure a point against Blackburn, coming from ten efforts at goal
• Newcastle earned a 2-0 win away at Bolton for victory in their last Premier League outing
• Yohan Cabaye covered the most ground for Newcastle in that game with 5 miles and has now covered 113.3 miles so far this season
• Hatem Ben Arfa was on target along with Demba Ba who scored his 14th Premier League goal of the season.
• Ba has now had 46 shots at goal this season with 65% on target, and is the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index’s second top scorer with 14 goals in the Barclays Premier League so far this season. Ba’s shot conversion rate is 30%, the second highest in the league for players who have had more than 20 shots at goal
• Alan Pardew named Mike Williamson as his outstanding player in the game. Only Cabaye covered more ground than Williamson in the match, while Williamson won four of five tackles attempted and also contributed a clearance and an interception
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