Newcastle United to invite Liverpool legend to St James' Park after Saudi takeover snub

Newcastle United could unveil a familiar face at St James' Park when they face Liverpool next month. The Magpies will host the Reds on December 4 as Eddie Howe's side look to climb the Premier League table after a slow start to the season.

According to the MailOnline, Newcastle are open to inviting Kevin Keegan to their clash against Liverpool, with Wor Flags planning a special tribute. The report states that the former Magpies boss and Reds icon politely declined offers in the past.

In fact, Keegan hasn't attended a game at St James' Park since he was sacked by Mike Ashley in 2008. The MailOnline claim that the 73-year-old has been reluctant to associate himself with the new Saudi owners, who bought the club in October 2021.

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It's said that Keegan is also a big fan of Howe, who's transformed the club into one of the Premier League's top sides. While the Newcastle boss will be hoping to impress his admirer, the Magpies are winless against Liverpool in 15 games.

The Tyneside outfit's last victory over the Reds was back in December 2015; Steve McClaren's side defeated Liverpool 2-0 at St James' Park during Jurgen Klopp's debut term as head coach. Georginio Wijnaldum netted a late winner after an own goal by Martin Skrtel had put Newcastle ahead.

Speaking to reporters after the game, the German conceded that 'nearly everything' went wrong. In an astonishing rant, as quoted by the official club website, Klopp said: "Nearly everything [went wrong], I would say – the start, the middle and the end. This was obviously not a really good football game.

"It was 50 per cent because of Newcastle, 50 per cent because of Liverpool. In a situation like Newcastle’s, it’s absolutely okay to play like this because they didn’t do too badly. They were playing build-up, they didn’t create chances, but we didn’t create chances either.

"It was an open game but no rhythm from our side; our defending in the last line was good, the middle didn’t defend well together, our midfield pressing was not good, I couldn’t see offensive pressing.

"We always had to run the long way in defence. Dejan, Martin and the two full-backs did a really good job. But we were not creative enough so we had no chances and they got the goal and it was something like a Christmas present."

Klopp added: "The second goal I’m not interested in, it’s normal, a counter-attack. We have to take this game and think about why it happened – that’s not the biggest issue in the world."