Newcastle United host Nottingham Forest in a Boxing Day encounter at St James’ Park.
Victory would see Newcastle move back up into sixth position, whilst Forest can climb above Everton into 16th position with a win.
Team News
Jamaal Lascelles is unlikely to feature for Newcastle after he suffered a muscle injury during their defeat at Luton.
Joelinton (hamstring) is a doubt and won’t be rushed back into the matchday squad until he is fully fit for selection.
Elliott Anderson (back), Matt Targett (hamstring), Nick Pope, Jacob Murphy (both shoulder), Sandro Tonali (suspension), Joe Willock (Achilles), Harvey Barnes (foot) and Javier Manquillo (groin) remain absent.
Forest will be without Willy Boly after he was red carded in their defeat against Bournemouth.
Ibrahim Sangare (adductor), Felipe (muscle) and Serge Aurier (calf) are doubts but Taiwo Awoniyi (groin) remains absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Newcastle host Forest at St James’ Park in a 12:30pm GMT kick-off on Boxing Day, live on Amazon Prime in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle are unbeaten in ten previous Premier League meetings against Forest (W7, D3).
- Forest have lost all five previous Premier League visits to Newcastle (L5).
- Newcastle have scored nine goals without conceding in their last three Premier League matches at home to Forest (W3).
- Eight of Newcastle’s last nine league goals at home were scored after half time.
- Forest have kept one clean sheet in their last six away games (D2, L4), which came in a goalless draw at Crystal Palace in October 2023.
Prediction
Given how tight the fixture list usually is across Xmas traditionally, Newcastle will be happy to have nearly a week to prepare for their trip to Liverpool after this game, given how second-best and jaded they looked in their defeat at Luton amidst their rotten injury crisis.
In fact that fatigue was obvious in the nature of their rushed yet wasteful end product at Kenilworth Road so I do worry for them coming into this game, yet they do seem to find renewed energy at home to drag them to victory somehow.
Forest meanwhile can be happy with their performance under Nuno Espirito Santo because they did play well even when down to ten men, although their defensive issues do remain as demonstrated by Bournemouth’s three goals coming from aerial crosses and deflections.
St James’ Park though isn’t an easy place to visit and given Forest’s record on Tyneside, they will need a huge performance but a draw might just be a fair outcome if they can soak up the pressure and hit Newcastle when their defence is stretched.
Prediction: Newcastle United 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Result: Newcastle United 1-3 Nottingham Forest
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