Hendo: I'm happy to play the villain
Jordan Henderson knows he can expect his fair share of stick from the home crowd when Liverpool take to the field at St James' Park today.
As someone who hails from Sunderland, played 79 games for the Mackems and even captained his boyhood club, Henderson is hardly a hero on the Gallowgate.
However, the 23-year-old intends to use any negative attention in his favour in order to recreate the fine display that helped the Reds crush Newcastle 6-0 last time around.
He told Liverpoolfc.com: "I'm always excited going into games, but I probably get a little more stick from the Newcastle fans than anyone else, so if we get a good result it will probably make it all the more sweeter.
"St James' is a great place to play football. It's a fantastic stadium and Newcastle have some very good players, so going there will be difficult.
"It will be a big test for us, but we're high on confidence so we'll go into the game very confident and hopefully we can get the three points.
"We need to make sure that we're right at it from the start because I'm sure Newcastle will be.
"You've got to win your battle first and then earn the right to play football and do the things that we've been doing really well this season.
"The main thing is to go there with a lot of confidence and win the game."
Henderson netted the second goal of the game in April as Newcastle were prised open by incisive play from Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge, something which became a recurring theme on the day.
The Reds' No.14 was left with a simple tap-in after Sturridge picked him out - and he wheeled away in celebration with sheer delight etched on his face.
"Every time you score it's a fantastic feeling and if you're getting a bit of stick it's that bit sweeter," admitted Henderson.
"I remember Sturridge did brilliantly and Philippe played him in. Then he squared it unselfishly to me and I couldn't believe my luck - I just had to tap it in really.
"It was a fantastic performance from the team. We started well and got a couple of goals. We just went from strength to strength throughout the game and scored some fantastic goals.
"Newcastle won last week [against Cardiff] so they'll be really high on confidence and they'll go into the game raring to go. So we need to make sure that we match that and make sure we play our own game as well."
Sturridge and Coutinho were lethal in the 6-0 win - Newcastle's heaviest on home soil since 1925 - as they spearheaded Liverpool's relentless assault on the Magpies' goal.
Coutinho remains sidelined due to the shoulder injury he picked up against Swansea last month - but Luis Suarez, who did not feature in the game back in April, will be keen to play his part in the north east.
"If you've seen Sturridge and Suarez over the last couple of weeks, they've been fantastic, so hopefully they can keep that going and score as many goals as they can," said Henderson.
"Their link-up play is brilliant - one-twos, they know where each other wants the ball and it's fantastic to see. Hopefully that can continue."