Newcastle United welcome Everton to St James’ Park in a huge showdown in the battle for Premier League survival.
Victory could lift Newcastle out of the relegation zone for at least 24 hours, whereas Everton can go 15th with a win and move seven points clear of their hosts.
Team News
Dan Burn could be in line for his senior Newcastle debut after returning to his childhood club on Deadline Day from Brighton in a £13m deal.
Matt Targett and Bruno Guimaraes could also feature after joining the club during the international break.
Joelinton (groin) is set to be available but Federico Fernandez (thigh), Jamal Lewis (groin), Paul Dummett (calf), Isaac Hayden, Matt Ritchie (both knee) and Callum Wilson (calf) remain absent.
Everton manager, Frank Lampard could hand Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek their club debuts after the pair were cup-tied for Saturday’s FA Cup win over Brentford.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin could return after recovering from a knee injury which forced him to miss Saturday’s game, during which Ben Godfrey suffered a hamstring injury which has ruled him out of this game.
Tom Davies, Fabian Delph (both thigh) and Abdoulaye Doucoure (groin) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle have lost just one of their last six meetings against Everton (W3, D2, L1).
- Everton have won three of their last five visits to St James’ Park (W3, L2).
- Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin has scored four goals in his last three away appearances against Newcastle.
- No Premier League player this season has conceded more penalties than Newcastle’s Jamaal Lascelles, who has conceded three penalties in 17 appearances.
- As a player, Everton manager – Lampard scored eight goals against Newcastle of which six goals were scored at St James’ Park.
Prediction
Having had a fortnight off following a clinical away win at Leeds, Newcastle will certainly be eager to build on that result but they did look more dangerous in set pieces than their attack unless Allan Saint Maximin was on the ball, which is worrying when need to rely on one player for quality.
Guimaraes, Burn and Targett though should be able to provide a boost because the latter two will inject needed extra defensive quality, whereas Guimaraes will be a dangerous threat deeply rooted in the midfield who should add extra physicality with his box-to-box ability.
Everton meanwhile were impressive in their first game under Lampard on Saturday as they showed better energy and movement in attack, yet they were against a toothless Brentford so this will be more of a test of their progress so far under Lampard’s management.
On that note, I am expecting a tough battle here because Newcastle currently have decent form in this fixture, whereas Everton have been slightly better at St James’ Park so tactics could be key to the result.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-1 Everton
Result: Newcastle 3-1 Everton
Leave a Reply