Newcastle vs. Watford
Venue: St. James’ Park
Kick Off: 4PM
Two teams battling for their lives towards the bottom of the Premier League table will lock horns at St James’ Park this afternoon, as Newcastle United welcome Watford.
Newcastle are currently 19th in the division, boasting just 11 points from their opening 19 matches, while Watford are 17th, just two points clear of their opponents this weekend.
Relegation for Newcastle this season is unthinkable considering their new-found wealth, and it would not be a surprise to see a few more signings arrive at the club before the end of the January transfer window.
Chris Wood has recently followed Kieran Trippier through the door, but the latter could not help his side record a victory over Cambridge United in the FA Cup last weekend, with Eddie Howe’s team suffering a 1-0 defeat at home to the League One outfit in the third round of the competition.
Newcastle were impressive in their last Premier League match, though, holding Manchester United to a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park, which moved them onto 11 points for the season.
The Magpies are currently 19th in the table, two points behind 17th-placed Watford, and they still have more than enough time to move out of the relegation zone, but the bottom four sides, which also include Burnley and Norwich City, could potentially be cut adrift in the coming weeks.
Howe’s team have only lost one of their last five home Premier League games, but they have not beaten Watford in England’s top flight since November 2018, with the points being shared in a 1-1 draw at Vicarage Road earlier this season.
Watford have not won a single match since their excellent 4-1 success at home to Manchester United on November 20, losing each of their seven games in all competitions since then.
The Hornets saw their FA Cup journey for the 2021-22 campaign come to an end last weekend when they lost 4-1 at Leicester City, but they have, more importantly, been beaten in their last six in the Premier League, including back-to-back home losses to West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Watford have three huge matches against Newcastle, Burnley and Norwich before the end of the month, and it will be fascinating to see where Claudio Ranieri’s side are in the table entering the month of February.
The Hertfordshire outfit have lost their last three league games on their travels against Arsenal, Leicester and Brentford but recorded a 5-2 victory at Everton towards the end of October.
Ranieri will be aware of the importance of Saturday’s contest at St James’ Park, with the Hornets looking to avoid a 14th loss of the 2021-22 Premier League season.
Newcastle possible XI: Dubravka, Trippier, Clark, Lascelles, Ritchie, Fraser, S Longstaff, Shelvey, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin, Wood.
Watford possible XI: Bachmann, Femenia, Sierralta, Cathcart, Kamara, Kucka, Dennis, Tufan, Sissoko, Sema, King.