Last season in torrential rain Liverpool lost 2-1 in the North-East. Craig Bellamy had opened the scoring for the Reds but goals from Obefemi Martins and a Nolberto Solano penalty gave the Geordies the three points.

Since joining Newcastle, Allardyce has brought in new recruits including virtually a whole new defence. Titus Bramble departed for Wigan in the summer and the new arrivals include Brazilian Claudio Cacapa from Lyon, Czech star David Rozenhal from PSG and Spaniard Jose Enrique from Villarreal. Allardyce also raided his former club Bolton for Senegal international Abdoulaye Faye.

In their last home game Newcastle lost heavily 4-1 to Portsmouth and the Magpies were booed off the pitch.

Former Red Michael Owen is expected to lead the Newcastle attack against his former club.

While much is made of results between the top teams in the Premier League table, Gerrard insists it’s victories like the one on Saturday which will give Liverpool a chance of competing for the big prize.

“These are the wins that get you in the title race,” he said. “A lot of people talk about when the big teams go head to head but the title has been won many times before by teams grinding results out like this.

“You look at Chelsea’s two title wins in recent years, they haven’t always played well against teams like this but they win 1-0.

“So that’s what we’ve got to get into the habit of, when we’re not playing to our maximum or to our level, we’ve got to get three points.”

Torres’ strike at the Kop end was his eighth of the campaign and Gerrard is delighted the Spanish star has made such a comfortable switch to English football.

“That’s the type of player that he is, that’s what we signed him for – to change games,” he added.

“We’re going to find that a lot of teams are going to come here well-organised and make things difficult for us but that’s the quality we’ve got in the squad to make a difference from the bench.

“Once you get to about the 70th minute and you still haven’t scored you start to worry that it’s going to end in a stalemate but to be fair to Fulham they were solid.

“It was nice to see Fernando back fit and with a little bit more sharpness I’m sure he’ll be back in from the start and will score a load of goals for us.

“Of course he lifts the crowd, you could see the ovation he got when he took his substitute’s coat off, he’s a big star for us and he works hard for the team.

“He’s a good lad. He’s settled in well and his English is improving all the time and he looks like he’s enjoying himself and that’s how we’ll get the best out of him.”

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Club spokesman Ian Cotton said: “A scan has confirmed Benayoun sustained a tear against Fulham.”

The news comes as a major blow to England fans, who were hoping the Israel captain could inspire his country to victory over Russia next Saturday.

If Israel lose, England would miss out on a major tournament for the first time since the 1994 World Cup.

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