Newcastle United host Qarabag in the second leg of their 2025-26 UEFA Champions League Knockout Play-Off.
With a 6-1 aggregate lead from the first leg, Newcastle will progress to the Round of 16 if avoid defeat although a loss by four goals or fewer would be enough for them to advance.
Qarabag meanwhile simply need to win by a five-goal margin or more to stand any chance of progression beyond this stage.
Team News
Malick Thiaw is suspended for Newcastle after he picked up his third booking of this season’s competition in the first leg of this tie.
Sven Botman (back) and Yoane Wissa (knock) face late fitness checks but Emil Krafth, Lewis Miley (both knee), Bruno Guimaraes, Tino Livramento (both hamstring) and Fabian Schar (ankle) remain absent.
Qarabag will be without defender, Bahlul Mustafazada after he suffered an adductor injury in the first leg.
Goalkeeper, Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev remains ruled out with an unspecified injury.
When is Kick-Off?
Newcastle host Qarabag at St James’ Park on Tuesday 24 February at 8pm GMT, live on Amazon Prime in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle won 6-1 in their only previous meeting against Qarabag, which came in the first leg of this tie.
- Qarabag are visiting Newcastle for the first time in all competitions.
- Eddie Howe’s Magpies are hosting Azerbaijani opposition for the first time at St James’ Park.
- Qarabag have never won away to English opposition (L5).
- Newcastle have kept clean sheets in their last three Champions League games at home (W3), during which they scored eight goals without reply.
- Qarabag have lost their last three away Champions League fixtures (L3), during which they scored one goal and conceded 11 goals.
Prediction
With the tie effectively over barring a defensive meltdown from Newcastle, it will be interesting to see how Howe approaches this because this is a chance to rest some regulars after a pretty unlucky league defeat at Manchester City on Saturday evening.
He however spoke in his press conference of going for a strong line-up which makes sense as this is a chance to continue their momentum at a key stage of the season, yet there is a need to balance that aspect alongside fitness if he wants to keep his key players fit for upcoming games.
Qarabag meanwhile have nothing to lose given that this tie is out of their hands unless they can score an early opener then kick on quickly, whilst their away record on English soil is poor anyway so this is a huge ask for them.
On that note, I do think that this will be a routine victory for the Magpies and if they can kill off the game early, I can see a number of changes being made at half time.
Prediction: Newcastle 3-0 Qarabag
Result: Newcastle 3-2 Qarabag (Newcastle win 9-3 on aggregate)
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