Good OP.
We do need to be wary ahead of this game. Newcastle still aren't completely safe from relegation and Pardew still seemed fairly cautious after the West Brom game so they should be up for this game.
They'll probably start as a 4-2-3-1. They're a direct, aggressive team, they play the most long balls per game of any team in the league and they make the second most amount of fouls (just behind Stoke). They will probably line up with Cisse up front, Sissoko behind him with Gouffran and Gutierrez out wide and Tiote and Cabaye providing further dynamism and work rate in midfield so it's easy to see that we will have to be aggressive defensively. In attack, they use their aerial threat; they play it long to Cisse or Sissoko and then win the second ball from there (which can cause them to lose shape and give us opportunities to counter if we win the second ball) and they also like to put crosses into the box. Cabaye is their main passing threat, he likes to play it long and switch play or play penetrating through balls. Gouffran often drops deep on the right to create space for Sissoko to run in the channels.
The main things we have to be aware of defensively is that a) we don't get overpowered. If they play at a high intensity and try and use their aerial threat and strength, we could find ourselves in trouble and so we will have to battle them and keep our lines compact to help us win the second ball. And b) don't drop too deep. When they play it long, we will inevitably drop deep in order to provide cover and keep our lines compact to win the second ball. However we need to be able to push out when we can and not allow them to bombard us with crosses into the box. We need to make sure Cabaye is closed down to stop him playing dangerous passes and make sure we don't give room for them to pull us out of shape.
Defensively they aren't great at all. They're prone to individual errors but especially weak on counter attacks. They have minimal balance between the lines, with their defence often dropping off but midfield pressuring higher. Cabaye often leaves space behind him and generally that area between defence and midfield is the place to target, particularly on the counter attack. Without Suarez, I think this would be the perfect game to start Coutinho in the no.10 role. Sturridge will start up front and can provide depth and push their backline deep, giving more space for Coutinho to penetrate in the space behind their midfield. Personally would also have Lucas and Gerrard stay deep in the build up phases of possession in order to entice their midfield to pressure them to also create more space for Coutinho. Having Gerrard and Lucas deep would also help protect against Sissoko's running when Newcastle themselves counter.
It's clearly a very winnable game but also the type of team we have struggled with this season. We need to make sure we have our lines compact but at the same time push out when we can so that we don't drop too deep and allow them to win the second balls and play crosses into the box. When we regain possession, to counter quickly and don't play our passes too short to allow them to put pressure on us but at the same time to use the space between their midfield and defence.
