Newcastle United welcome Fulham to St James Park in Saturday Night Football from Premier League.
Victory could send Newcastle up to tenth if Crystal Palace fail to beat Liverpool earlier in the day, whereas Fulham could climb as high as 16th with a win.
Team News
Newcastle have no fresh injury concerns after Wednesday’s 5-2 defeat at Leeds.
Javi Manquillo, Fabian Schar (both Coronavirus), Martin Dubravka (Achilles), Allan Saint-Maximin (calf), Paul Dummett (hamstring) and Jamaal Lascelles (thigh) remain absent.
Fulham could have Bobby Reid available after the midfielder suffered a knock in Wednesday’s goalless draw against Brighton.
Kenny Tete (fitness) could also feature but Terence Kongolo (foot) is ruled out.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle are unbeaten in four of their last five Premier League meetings against Fulham (W3, D1, L1).
- Fulham are winless in their last five Premier League trips to Newcastle (D2, L3).
- There has been four penalties in total awarded in 26 previous Premier League meetings, with Newcastle converting their one spot-kick to Fulham’s three.
- Newcastle’s Callum Wilson has scored five right-footed goals in 11 league appearances this season, matching the same total that he managed for Bournemouth last season on the same foot in 35 appearances.
- No Fulham player has made more blocks this season than Tosin Adarabioyo, who produced just five blocks in nine league appearances.
Prediction
Newcastle will be hurting after Wednesday’s physical encounter at Leeds in which poor man-marking particularly on counter-attacks ultimately cost them at least a draw despite Karl Darlow once again doing a solid job in goal.
Fulham meanwhile found themselves in a scrappy contest against Brighton but managed to importantly keep a clean sheet despite failing to score, so will definitely be looking to push on against a Newcastle team who will be under pressure to quickly put Wednesday’s meltdown behind them.
Steve Bruce’s defence however is typically solid so this will certainly be another scrappy yet physical contest for both teams so a draw looks a decent bet, although I am going to take a punt on Newcastle winning because they have the quality needed to bounce back when needed.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-0 Fulham
Result: Newcastle 1-1 Fulham