Newcastle United look to return to winning ways as Eddie Howe’s Magpies welcome Wolves to St James’ Park in Friday Night Football.
Victory would see Newcastle climb to 14th in the table, whereas Wolves can go sixth with a win until Saturday lunchtime at minimum.
Team News
Miguel Almiron and Joelinton are set to be available for Newcastle after recovering from illness, which forced the pair to sit out last weekend’s defeat at Tottenham.
Federico Fernandez (muscle) is also set to be in contention but Joe Willock (knee) is a doubt.
Kieran Trippier (foot), Jamal Lewis (groin), Isaac Hayden (knee) and Callum Wilson (calf) remain absent.
Wolves have no fresh injury concerns to report after last weekend’s win over Aston Villa.
Ki-Jana Hoever (hamstring), Ruben Neves (knee) and Raul Jimenez (suspension) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle are winless in their last eight Premier League matches against Wolves (D6, L2).
- Wolves have lost just one of their last five Premier League visits to St James’ Park (W1, D3, L1).
- Five of Newcastle’s last six Premier League clashes against Wolves have finished 1-1, with exception of a 2-1 defeat at Molineux in October 2021.
- Ryan Fraser has scored in two of his last three home appearances for Newcastle.
- Wolves have scored first in each of their last four matches (W3, L1).
Prediction
Having given Tottenham a decent battle in the first-half in which they briefly led, Newcastle certainly will be disappointed with how they defensively collapsed after half-time with woeful marking of Spurs’ four second-half goals.
Add in the fact that Eddie Howe’s Magpies were wasteful of chances then there surely has to be a reaction here in front of the home fans, especially given that safety isn’t officially assured yet.
Wolves meanwhile are on the fringes of the top-four race but delivered an excellent counter-attacking performance to punish a woeful Villa defence, whilst they also defended well except for Sa’s late error so I expect them to come here fancying their chances of a win.
Recent meetings between these two teams though have been very close so I won’t expect anything less at St James’ Park, although I can see Wolves winning this match if they’re at their best and use their strong pace to crack Newcastle’s defence open.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-2 Wolves
Result: Newcastle 1-0 Wolves