Newcastle is undergoing a crisis and is nowhere near the performance level of Liverpool.
Liverpool is 13 points ahead, has not lost a single game in quite a while but Newcastle has lost four of their last five games in a very disappointing manner against inferior opponents. I don't think this is a game that is unpredictable. Of course Newcastle has a chance, but it doesn't look very promising for them because it is unlikely that they can make a U-turn against Liverpool when they were not able to do it against weaker teams before this game.
But it will be a hard fight regardless and I am hoping for Liverpool to win the game.
Eddie Howe is also going through a tougher phase than Erik Ten Hag but I still see that they have always wanted for the repeatedly sack of Erik Ten Hag who won a trophy for Manchester United. Eddie Howe on the other side has nothing to show but the pressure and hate on Manchester United is just too much I must say that. Eddie Howe also took them to the Champions League and failed and brought them back shamefully.
Against Liverpool, it's another Open game, as rival's to to Liverpool, I don't want them to win the game. Not even wining the Premier League Competition. Tonight? Newcastle be going to win.
I agree and Eddie Howe has raised the expectations himself, but now it is really not going well for them as they are out of the Champions League and didn't even make it into the Europa League, which is a bummer for them after they played such an amazing season. And they also had this amazing game against PSG and I am pretty sure that after the game a lot of fans thought that this is a major breakthrough for them and they will establish at the top of European soccer. But it is harder than that.
On the other hand I agree that Newcastle doesn't have as high expecations as Manchester United has for a good reason. Newcastle also refrained from making crazy investments. I think Newcastle can still work their way up and nothing is lost yet, but they need some better results now.