Newcastle fans are predicting a “raucous” St James’ Park atmosphere, with Alexander Isak’s future dominating the lead-up to Liverpool’s trip.It’s fair to say that relations between the two clubs have been better!Liverpool’s pursuit of Isak has been headline news, with the Swede training away from his teammates as he demands a summer exit to Anfield.Newcastle remain adamant that their striker is going nowhere, but for now, attention has to turn to on-pitch matters.Liverpool head to St James’ for a potentially ferocious meeting on Monday, which promises to be a big test for Arne Slot‘s champions.Ahead of the game, This Is Anfield’s Henry Jackson spoke to Newcastle fan and writer Dave Black (@cm9798) to discuss the Isak saga, Monday’s match and more. How’s the positivity at Newcastle after the opening weekend? A bit of a mixed bag.We were very good away at Aston Villa – I think a lot of fans were fearing the worst after taking a beating there in April, plus the general uncertainty around the club at the moment.But we had the better of the game and would probably have won with a striker…Alexander Isak or otherwise!There is a nervousness that there are only 10 days of the window to go, and our only senior striker is effectively on strike from playing.Despite our best efforts, no new striker has come in.It does feel like the final piece of a pretty good jigsaw, given that the rest of the dealings have significantly improved the squad. What’s your take on the Isak situation, in terms of how you feel about him?I feel very badly let down by him.Clubs bid for players all the time, but I feel like he has taken the nuclear option very quickly and backed himself into a corner.We don’t know the truth of what he was promised or not, but what we do know is that he was seemingly quite happy at the start of July.We signed Anthony Elanga, a friend and international teammate of his, but then Liverpool bid and then he wasn’t happy anymore.I don’t necessarily think any blame lies with Liverpool there, but I don’t think I am alone in thinking there is more to it than that.You only have to look at Eberechi Eze and Illia Zabarnyi, who played full pre-seasons for their clubs with deals bubbling away in the background.They were professional to the very end, and had Isak done that, I think it was more likely he would be sold.But the way he has acted hasn’t helped anybody – Liverpool included, in my opinion. Do you think he will stay or leave this summer?I think he will stay, unwillingly.I can’t see Liverpool bidding the asking price now, and it’s almost become a point of principle for the owners.Had Isak done this in May, we would have had a lot more of the window to sort out a suitable replacement, but the stance seems to be, “why should we sell a player and replace him with somebody lesser?”We aren’t under any pressure to sell financially, and he has a contract.What happens if he is a Newcastle player after September 1 is anybody’s guess, but I suspect he will be slowly reintegrated, even though that seems impossible right now. Looking ahead to Monday, what kind of atmosphere are you expecting?Raucous. It’s a bank holiday, so both sets of fans will likely be well-oiled.There is a disdain for the way Liverpool are perceived to have acted through all this, but again, factually, all we know is they have placed a bid and Newcastle rejected it.There’s been some “banter” on social media between the two sets of fans, but I find all of that quite tedious.It is a big game, regardless, and add in the bank holiday and the Isak situation, and I’m expecting it to be pretty wild. Where will the key battles take place?Our midfield is our biggest strength, so it will be interesting to see if Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali can do as well as they did in December in this same fixture.But even then, Liverpool still scored three.Your new full-backs seem to like a foray forward and we are good on the break, so Elanga’s pace against potentially exposed defenders could be key. Finally, what’s your prediction?I can’t see us scoring many goals unless a striker is parachuted in.By contrast, you have goals all over your team – do you even really need Isak? – so I will say Newcastle 1-3 Liverpool.