Newcastle United look to reignite their hopes of European qualification in a crucial Premier League clash against Bournemouth.
Victory would lift Newcastle up to 11th in the table if Fulham lose at Brentford in the lunchtime kick-off, whilst Bournemouth can climb as high as seventh with a win if Brentford lose at lunchtime.
Team News
Joelinton is suspended for Newcastle after he picked up his 10th booking of the season in their 2-1 defeat at Crystal Palace.
Bruno Guimaraes (illness), Emil Krafth (knee) and Fabian Schar (foot) remain absent.
Bournemouth have no fresh injury news after their 2-1 win at Arsenal last weekend.
Julio Soler (hamstring) could return but Lewis Cook (hamstring) and Justin Kluivert (knee) remain absent.
When is Kick-Off?
Newcastle host Bournemouth at St James’ Park on Saturday 18 April at 3pm BST, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle are winless in their last seven league matches against Bournemouth (D5, L2).
- Bournemouth have lost two of their seven previous Premier League visits to Newcastle (W3, D2, L2).
- Only one of Newcastle’s 15 previous Premier League meetings against Bournemouth ended in a 0-0 draw.
- Newcastle have lost their last two matches by 2-1 results after they initially took a first-half lead, only to concede twice in the second half against Sunderland and Crystal Palace respectively.
- Six of Eli Junior Kroupi’s 10 league goals for Bournemouth this season have been scored away from home.
Prediction
With speculation over Eddie Howe’s future at the club beyond this season, Newcastle shouldn’t be letting their heads drop after another second-half collapse following a first-half opener as they can still qualify for Europe, because if they had held onto their lead then they would of been sat seventh now.
Bournemouth meanwhile know that Andoni Iraola is officially leaving at the end of this season so it will be interesting to see whether there is any psychological effect upon the team, as they too are still right in the mix for European qualification plus are on a 12-match unbeaten top-flight run.
This meeting therefore is really a must-not-lose game because whoever loses this will need a near-miracle to qualify for Europe, so it feels easy to predict a draw here especially after their FA Cup Third-Round cracker earlier this season but I do think that Bournemouth will edge this given their managerial clarity.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-2 Bournemouth
Result: Newcastle 1-2 Bournemouth
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