A lot has changed at Newcastle United in the last 12 months, in particular, but this club still has the capacity to throw up some truly staggering moments. For all the wrong reasons. Take Newcastle's 2-0 defeat against Liverpool at St James' Park on Saturday evening, which ended the Magpies' 17-game unbeaten run in the Premier League.
If Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo firing Liverpool in front was not already bad enough for the hosts early on, goalkeeper Nick Pope was then sent off midway through the first half for inexplicably handling the ball outside his area. Pope will now miss Sunday's Carabao Cup final against Manchester United as a result.
Yet the bad news does not stop there for Eddie Howe. The Newcastle head coach will be unable to call upon number two Martin Dubravka because the Slovakia international is cup-tied after playing for finalists Manchester United earlier in the competition while Karl Darlow, the next in line, won't be able to be recalled from his loan spell at Hull City. That means that Loris Karius looks set to make his first competitive start in two years in the Magpies' biggest game in decades. It feels like the most Newcastle United thing ever.
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However, it is easy to forget this a goalkeeper with immense experience, who has shown remarkable mental strength to even keep going after his Champions League nightmare in 2018. Indeed, former boss Jurgen Klopp vowed on Saturday night: "You can absolutely rely on him. There's no doubt about that. He's a great goalie - that's why Newcastle signed him."
Karius will also come into a spirited Newcastle side, who did not crumble even after going down to 10 men against Liverpool. In fact, it said it all that Howe effectively had to take the committed Joelinton off against the Brazilian's wishes late on in case he aggravated a strain.
No wonder Klopp hailed Newcastle's 'top character' and made reference to how the Magpies 'threw everything on the pitch'. That response from his side gave Howe hope ahead of the trip to Wembley and, in a way, served as a warning to Manchester United that Newcastle won't just be swept aside.
“I don't think it will be damaging for us because of the manner of the defeat," the Newcastle head coach told reporters. "No-one wants to lose, but there are ways to lose. We lost today have a real go at a top team with 10 men for a huge part of the game.
“We passed the ball. We still tried to press them and not be too passive. We counter-attacked really well so there were a lot of aspects of our play today that were very good.
“From the players' perspective, it should whet the appetite for what we can be. If we can play that way with a man down, what can we do with even numbers?"
That will have been the hope before the Liverpool game, of course. This was not only a chance for Newcastle to open up a huge 12-point gap on Liverpool in fourth; it was an opportunity to go into next week's Carabao Cup final against Manchester United with precious momentum after a run of one win in six in the Premier League. Dan Burn stressed it was 'one of the biggest games of the season' while Jamaal Lascelles went as far as to say 'we want to make up' for the painful defeat in the reverse fixture last August.
This fixture already has gravitas - it is rarely dull - and a late kick-off under the lights only added to the sense of occasion as Wor Flags paid tribute to Sir Bobby Robson on what would have been the Newcastle legend's 90th birthday with a superb display in the East Stand. How fitting that Lady Elsie Robson and Sir Bobby's three sons, Andrew, Paul and Mark, were in attendance as well as Rob Lee, Laurent Robert, Nikos Dabizas and Kieron Dyer. This atmosphere certainly harked back to the height of the Sir Bobby era, when Newcastle were going toe-to-toe with Liverpool, and the players quickly fed off it after a minute's silence turned into a minute's applause in memory of Christian Atsu before kick-off.
This Liverpool side had failed to keep a clean sheet on the road since April and the visitors were going to give Newcastle chances. The big question was whether Newcastle could take them.
Allan Saint-Maximin led the charge from the off, carrying the ball up the field, and the Frenchman slipped in Miguel Almiron with just four minutes on the clock. However, Alisson rushed out of his goal to deny Almiron with a strong left hand.
These are the big moments in games of this magnitude and, just a few minutes later, Liverpool were in front. Trent Alexander-Arnold had all the time and room he needed as Saint-Maximin and Sean Longstaff stood off and the England international's scooped ball over the top picked out Darwin Nunez. Newcastle's static defence were caught napping, having played Nunez onside, and the striker volleyed the ball past Pope.
There was still so much time for Newcastle to get back into the game, but it was about to get even worse for the hosts. Stefan Bajcetic was given the freedom of St James' in the 17th minute to take his side up the pitch before the ball eventually came to Fabinho, who found Mo Salah in space just outside the area. Yet another of Liverpool's danger men had the time and space he needed to play a superb pass over the top and Cody Gakpo ghosted in and fired the ball into the net.
2-0 down after 17 minutes. Could it get any worse for Newcastle? You bet. Trippier's free-kick was easily claimed by Alisson and the Liverpool goalkeeper immediately spotted Salah on the run midway through the first half. By the time Alisson's swerving punt forward finally bounced, Pope had rushed out of his goal to try and sweep up and prevent Salah from getting to it. However, Pope slipped at the crucial moment and inexplicably grabbed the ball 30 yards from goal.
Referee Anthony Taylor duly brandished the red card and on came Martin Dubravka after Howe sacrificed Elliot Anderson, who was making his first Premier League start. Yet Newcastle did not capitulate and the hosts rallied after the half-hour mark when Trippier's long ball forward sent Saint-Maximin galloping down the channel. Saint-Maximin turned Andy Robertson inside out and held off Virgil van Dijk before getting his shot away, which Alisson pushed onto the crossbar.
Newcastle took confidence from that opening and Howe's side hit the woodwork once more right before the break when Dan Burn's header struck the crossbar from Trippier's corner. To think 10-man Newcastle could have been level at the break.
Liverpool did have their chances in the second half - Dubravka had to produce a fine stop to keep out Nunez's effort before the hour mark - but so did Newcastle. None more so than in the 82nd minute when a loose pass from Roberto Firmino was seized upon by Anthony Gordon. The Newcastle forward played Callum Wilson in only for Alisson to rush out and keep out the substitute's effort with his feet. Newcastle will hope that Karius produces similar stops when called upon at Wembley.
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