Newcastle United will be looking to extend their winning run to five matches in the Premier League as they host Liverpool at St James' Park this afternoon.

The Magpies face off against the Reds as Jurgen Klopp's team are battling with Manchester City to land the title this season.

It will be a difficult match for Eddie Howe's men but they head into the game off the back of wins over Norwich, Crystal Palace, Leicester and Wolves.

Despite that fine run, one change that the 44-year-old must make from their last outing, a 3-0 win against the Canaries, is to bring Fabian Schar back into the starting XI.

Howe must unleash Schar

The centre-back, who signed a fresh two-year contract earlier this week, was rested at Carrow Road after 14 straight top-flight starts leading up to the game in Norfolk. Newcastle picked up a whopping 29 points from those 14 matches, which shows how important the Swiss defender has been to the club in 2022, as he has played a key role in their resurgence.

Toon legend Alan Shearer previously hailed him as "commanding" and a "danger" going forward in 2019. The 30-year-old was also dubbed "absolutely outstanding" by journalist Dominic Scurr earlier this year, with these comments illustrating how well he has performed over the years.

Upon the announcement of the defender's new contract, Howe heaped praise on the Swiss hulk as he said: "I've been delighted with Fabian's form. He is the ultimate professional and a hugely important player in our dressing room.

"I'm delighted he has committed himself to the club. He is very driven for future success and I'm pleased he will be a part of our future."

This shows how highly the head coach rates the £40k-per-week defender, and Schar's statistics this year prove that he is deserving of such applause.

He averaged SofaScore ratings of 7.2, 7.3 and 6.9 throughout January, February and March respectively and is currently averaging a score of 7.2 in April. This means that he is roughly averaging a score of 7.15 in the Premier League in 2022, consistently delivering excellent displays at centre-back.

For context, Bruno Guimaraes (7.25) is the only Newcastle player with more than five appearances this term to average a higher rating in the top flight for the club. Schar has established himself as one of Howe's key players and he must be brought back into the team for a big clash with a Liverpool side which has only lost two games in the entire league campaign.

AND in other news, "I'm told": Insider reveals deal NUFC are set to complete, supporters will be buzzing...