Newcastle United and Liverpool have gone into the break locked at 0-0 following a first half of very few chances at St James' Park.
The visitors made a bright start to the contest by winning three corners in quick succession, but United were able to clear their lines on each occasion.
Jurgen Klopp's rejuvenated side continued to take control of things, yet it took until a quarter of the way into the match before they could muster their first real chance.
A corner into the box was met by Dejan Lovren, who helped the ball on to returning striker Christian Benteke to do the rest, only for the Belgian to somehow prod the ball over the bar from close range.
Papiss Cisse squandered his big opening when left one-on-one against Martin Skrtel up the other end, opting to cut inside and losing the ball in the process to bring the first half's lacklustre action to a close.
