Even when England conspire to produce an eight-goal thriller or the Dutch-German rivalry delivers a six-goal ding-dong, the return of the Premier League is always a pleasure in the aftermath of European qualifiers.
If there is such a thing as a safe bet at the top of the division these days, Liverpool's continuing capacity to steamroller visitors seems an assured one.
Newcastle, though, sounded a warning signal when they won at Tottenham Hotspur a few weeks ago, and arrive in a far less desperate position than they might have done without their current unexpected revival.
Liverpool
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Jurgen Klopp would doubtless chirpily insist otherwise, but the Liverpool boss must spend international weeks anxiously praying that none of his stars pick up knocks on their travels.
As it was, most of them continued their good form. The likes of Virgil van Dijk, who helped the Netherlands to a thrilling victory in Germany and a thumping win in Estonia, are back with their tails up.
The irrepressible Klopp has led his side to a perfect start to the season, winning all of their matches in good style to remain the only club to have done so in all four divisions in England.
The most recent of those four wins was the 3-0 triumph on a tricky trip to Burnley at the end of last month, when a Sadio Mane goal doubled a lead provided by Chris Wood's own-goal, embellished with a late Roberto Firmino strike to seal the win.
Their home record is also unmatched. Reds fans will not mind hearing the stats repeated about a run at Anfield that has not included defeat since May 2017, and they have scored seven goals in their first two games of the season there.
Norwich City were 4-0 down after 42 minutes before snatching one back through Teemu Pukki in a determined second half riposte, and Arsenal failed to make much of a contest when they became the second side to leave pointless this campaign.
Joel Matip put Liverpool on the way to a resounding 3-1 win, including two goals in nine minutes for Mohamed Salah.
The Egypt striker has three goals in four matches, earning him the Reds' Player of the Month award for August.
With a Champions League trip to Napoli and a domestic visit to Chelsea in the next week, Liverpool will expect to continue a run that has seen them remain unbeaten since a narrow loss at Manchester City at the start of January.
Recent form: WWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WDWWW
Newcastle
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Newcastle have been in relatively rude health since they were comfortably beaten at Norwich City last month.
Sparked by the deserved 1-0 win at Tottenham, they climbed further away from the relegation zone thanks to a draw with Watford before suffering a Carabao Cup exit on penalties against Leicester City.
Their latest mission is a free hit for Steve Bruce, the coach who appeared so beleaguered before that trip to Spurs that some were already questioning his long-term future as Magpies boss.
Bruce has not won at Anfield since 2004, although he has emerged with six draws from his 12 visits to Liverpool, where he is used to absorbing good-natured jibes from the home fans.
That defeat at Norwich is their only loss and the only time they have been behind in five matches on the road, including three wins.
The 1-0 loss to Arsenal in their opening match of the season was the only time in 10 games that they have failed to score, and Joelinton's winner against Spurs was the club record signing's first goal in English football.
The Brazilian almost set up another winner in the 1-1 draw with Watford at St James' Park, sending Yoshinori Muto through on goal for a golden last-gasp opportunity to secure three points, only for the Japan forward to spurn the chance.
Bruce has also been praising the impact of Christian Atsu since his return from the Africa Cup of Nations, admitting that the Ghana midfielder's pivotal display against Tottenham was a pleasant surprise to his coaching staff.
Recent form: LWLLWD
Team News
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A raft of players have returned from international duty on both sides, including Newcastle defender Fabian Schar, who scored a goal and provided an assist for Switzerland across two matches.
Striker Miguel Almiron also had a good week, scoring his first international goal in a 4-2 win for Paraguay over Jordan.
Twenty-one-year-old midfielder Sean Longstaff made his Newcastle debut at Liverpool last season and is looking forward to his first return, but striker Dwight Gayle is still out with a calf injury.
Fellow frontman Andy Carroll has not played since February and underwent ankle surgery earlier this year, although the former England targetman has returned to light training.
Defender Florian Lejeune, midfielder Jack Colback, wingers Allan Saint-Maximin and Matt Ritchie are all out, while versatile wide player DeAndre Yedlin is doubtful with a groin problem.
Liverpool have no new concerns following the break, with goalkeeper Alisson Becker remaining their most notable absentee.
The Brazilian mainstay has been out since the opening match of the season, when he injured his calf while taking a goal kick in the first half against Norwich City.
Defender Nathaniel Clyne is not expected to return until next year, having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament during the club's pre-season tour of the United States.
Naby Keita has had a torrid time with injuries since representing Guinea at the Africa Cup of Nations in the summer, and the midfielder is still sidelined with the injury problems that forced him to depart a training session prematurely ahead of the Super Cup final.
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Adrian; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane
Newcastle possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Krafth, Lascelles, Schar, Dummett, Willems; Almiron, Hayden, Longstaff, Atsu; Joelinton
Head To Head
Newcastle have not won at Anfield in more than 25 years, although they gave Liverpool a scare as the title-chasers scored in the final five minutes of normal time for a hard-fought 3-2 win at St James' Park in May.
Liverpool extended their unbeaten run at home in this fixture to 23 matches with a 4-0 win here last season, including a Salah penalty and goals for Dejan Lovren, Xherdan Shaqiri and Fabinho.
They have 85 wins to Newcastle's 50 in the all-time head-to-head, the most memorable recent example of which may have been the 4-3 win at Anfield in 1997, when the Magpies came from 3-0 down in the 70th minute to make the score 3-3 with two minutes of normal time remaining.
Robbie Fowler then scored his second of the match with a 90th-minute winner to leave Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish devastated in the away dugout.
We say: Liverpool 1-0 Newcastle
Caution could be wise despite the gulf in quality between these squads, not least with many among Liverpool's number back from midweek matches and looking ahead to the start of their Champions League defence next week.
Newcastle are in good away form and showed at Spurs that they can devise a cunning gameplan and spring a surprise with a suckerpunch.
With nothing to lose, they could push Liverpool for as long as they can stop their forward line from twisting the knife. The task is to repeat their rearguard heroics in London - and hope for a helping of luck.
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