LIVERPOOL, England (AFP) — Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish believes there’s nothing wrong with his side that a few more goals won’t solve.

The Reds have managed just 21 goals in 18 Premier League matches so far this season, and have drawn (seven) nearly as many matches as they have won (eight).

Their plight was summed up when even bottom of the table Blackburn Rovers managed a 1-1 draw at Anfield on Boxing Day in a match Liverpool dominated.

Striker Andy Carroll, signed for £35 million in January, was in the spotlight again after missing a host of chances against Blackburn and the forward, who has managed just four goals for Liverpool, is bound to be in the spotlight again when the Merseysiders face his former club Newcastle at Anfield today.

“If you want to be really positive you could say we are undefeated at home, but we’ve said before we don’t want to set our standards that low,” said Dalglish.

“We want to be winning our home games as often as we possibly can and we’ve certainly given ourselves opportunities to have won every home game… we haven’t done that but we will keep going and we believe we will do,” he said.

Despite all their dropped points, Liverpool are still only one win away from fourth-placed Chelsea, but Anfield is no longer as intimidating as it was in Dalglish’s heyday and in Demba Ba, Carroll’s replacement, Newcastle have an in-form striker.

The Senegal international, set to leave on African Nations Cup duty next month, took his goal tally for the season to 14 in the 2-0 win over Bolton on Boxing Day which ended Newcastle’s six-game wait for a league win following an impressive start to the campaign.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew, who began his reign as Magpies boss with a 3-1 win at home to Liverpool — a match in which Carroll scored for the north-east side — just over a year ago, has been delighted by Ba.

“He’s just one of those players who has everything, really, as a striker,” said Pardew, whose side are just a point behind Liverpool.

“There’s not much to his game that he hasn’t got, and that stands you in good stead,” he added.