The Magpies were boosted by Livramento’s return to the squad for the FA Cup fifth round tie against Manchester City at the weekend after a two-month lay-off and the defender came off the bench for the final 10 minutes.
Livramento will again be in the squad on Tuesday night, but is unlikely to start, with Howe reluctant to rush the defender back, regardless of his importance.
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“He probably hasn’t done enough training for me to feel 100% he’s in the best physical place to start, but he’s in our squad and anyone in that position is in contention to play,” said Newcastle’s head coach.
“It’s a delicate balance with Tino. He’s in good spirits, a good place.
“He’s a massive player for us and it’s great to have him back. I have to get the selection right.”
Howe revealed the illness that Jacob Ramsey and Nick Woltemade both went down with earlier this month is still hanging around the camp, but, as of Monday afternoon, he didn’t expect to have any key stars missing out.
The head coach will closely assess his squad before making a final decision on team selection.
He said: “We came through the Manchester City game relatively OK. No fresh injuries.
“We have a little bit of illness again in the camp that’s been hanging around in recent days.
“We anticipate, fingers crossed we don’t lose anybody, and fingers crossed we’ll be as we were with Tino Livramento back in the squad.”
Barcelona top La Liga and headed for Tyneside on the back of a 1-0 win away at Athletic Club. That followed a brilliant Copa del Rey second leg against Atletico Madrid when Hansi Flick’s side almost overturned a 4-0 first leg deficit, coming up one goal short.
Howe said: “They showed very recently against Atletico Madrid that the tie is not going to be dead regardless of the outcome in this game.
“For us we just have to focus on trying to win and not overthinking it. Their recent record in the league has been very consistent, their style is consistent so we know what we’re going to face.”