Two teams battling for their lives towards the bottom of the Premier League table will lock horns at St James' Park on Saturday 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.
Match preview
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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.
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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.
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Team News
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Wood is available for selection on Saturday, and the New Zealand international is expected to lead the Newcastle line, with Callum Wilson among those on the sidelines for the Magpies.
Federico Fernandez, Isaac Hayden and Jamal Lewis are also absent through injury, while Javier Manquillo will miss the relegation six-pointer through suspension.
Ciaran Clark should recover from COVID-19 to feature in the middle of the defence, while Joelinton is again expected to start in central midfield alongside Jonjo Shelvey and Sean Longstaff.
As for Watford, Nicolas Nkoulou, Peter Etebo and Kwadwo Baah will miss the contest through injury, while Kiko Femenia, Emmanuel Dennis, Ben Foster and Christian Kabasele are all doubts.
The Hornets will also be without Imran Louza, Adam Masina, William Troost-Ekong and Ismaila Sarr due to their involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations.
Hassane Kamara is in line to make his debut for the visitors at left-back, while fellow new arrivals Samir and Edo Kayembe could also be in the squad.
Ranieri will be hopeful that key attacker Dennis can shake off a knock to feature in a wide area, while Josh King should again lead the line for the Hertfordshire outfit.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Trippier, Clark, Lascelles, Ritchie; Fraser, S Longstaff, Shelvey, Joelinton, Saint-Maximin; Wood
Watford possible starting lineup:
Bachmann; Femenia, Sierralta, Cathcart, Kamara; Kucka; Dennis, Tufan, Sissoko, Sema; King
We say: Newcastle United 2-1 Watford
Newcastle will view this match as the perfect chance to secure their second league victory of the campaign, but Watford will also believe that they can cause problems to their fellow strugglers; it should be a close game at St James' Park, but we are backing Wood to find the back of the net in a 2-1 home success.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Watford win with a probability of 36.33%. A win for Newcastle United had a probability of 35.61% and a draw had a probability of 28.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Watford win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.77%) and 0-2 (6.67%). The likeliest Newcastle United win was 1-0 (11.17%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.18%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.2% likelihood.
