Preview: Newcastle United vs. Fulham - prediction, team news, lineups

Newcastle United welcome Fulham to St James' Park on Saturday evening on the back of a 5-2 defeat to Leeds United earlier this week.

Meanwhile, the Cottagers make the trip to the North-East having recorded successive draws at home to Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Match preview

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Despite sitting in the bottom half of the standings, Newcastle boss Steve Bruce will be satisfied with 17 points being collected from the club's first dozen matches in the Premier League this season.

Nevertheless, shipping five goals at Leeds on Wednesday evening has put a different spin on things, the pressure increasing on the Magpies boss ahead of the Christmas period.

Newcastle still have a game in hand on many of the teams above them, but a fourth defeat in six matches would leave the club cut adrift from the top half of the standings.

While Bruce will be pleased with the improvements made in the final third, none of his squad have scored more than once in the last five fixtures.

That is a run which he will hope comes to an end at the weekend, particularly against opponents who are showing signs of being capable of a surge up the table.

Fulham have only claimed five points from their most recent half-a-dozen fixtures, but the vast progress made in defensive areas has given Scott Parker and his squad something to work with during a hectic period.

The Cottagers have now gone 265 minutes without conceding a goal during open play with two of the three goals scored by Manchester City and Liverpool coming from the penalty spot.

A clean sheet against Brighton on Wednesday evening was well received, although they still lack a cutting edge with Aleksandar Mitrovic out of the starting lineup.

That said, with games against Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United to come by January 20, Parker may feel tempted to focus more attention to the defensive side of their game in a bid to remain outside of the relegation zone.

Newcastle United Premier League form: WLLWWL

Fulham Premier League form: LLWLDD

Team News

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On his return to his former club, Mitrovic could be brought back into the Fulham XI as a replacement for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

While Tom Cairney is also in contention for a recall, Parker may opt to retain as much of the team from the last two games as possible.

Given the recent coronavirus outbreak at the club, Bruce will inevitably make several alterations for the third fixture in the space of a week.

Emil Krafth, Jonjo Shelvey and Miguel Almiron will all expect to come back into the Newcastle starting lineup.

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:

Darlow; Krafth, Clark, Fernandez, Lewis; Hendrick, Longstaff, Shelvey, Almiron; Joelinton, Wilson

Fulham possible starting lineup:

Areola; Aina, Andersen, Adarabioyo; Decordova-Reid, Lemina, Zambo Anguissa, Robinson; Cavaleiro, Lookman; Mitrovic

We say: Newcastle United 1-1 Fulham

While both clubs will view this as an opportunity to make significant headway up the standings, avoiding defeat before the Christmas period is arguably more important. With that in mind, do not be surprised to see these two sides settled for a point apiece.

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