Newcastle United welcome Swansea City to St James’ Park on Saturday, with both sides coming off the back of vastly contrasting runs of form.
Hosts Newcastle thought they were setting themselves up for survival when they appointed Rafa Benitez last month, however the Spaniard is yet to have his desired influence on Tyneside and the Toon’s situation is becoming more desperate as the weeks go on.
Going without a win since mid-February and performances which have lacked both quality and heart have fans resigned to the fact that relegation is inevitable, with a six-point gap separating them from 17th place. A loss on Saturday will all but seal their fate.
Swansea on the other hand have turned their fortunes around after looking like relegation candidates in January. Thirteen points from their last six matches have lifted the Swans well clear of danger and up to 13th place on the table. Their latest scalp came against a resurgent Chelsea and they will be confident of continuing their revival against a struggling Newcastle side.
Key Battle – Jonjo Shelvey vs Gylfi Sigurdsson
After being team mates in the first half of the season, Shelvey made the switch to Newcastle and although results have not been going the Magpies’ way, it has not been through any fault of the fringe England international, who has tried his best to lift the club out of trouble. His opposite number Sigurdsson has been in magnificent form over the last month, scoring four goals in five outings which has contributed to the Swans flying up the table. Both are crucial for their respective teams and could have a big say on who wins this Saturday.
Team News
Paul Dummett and Jack Colback are set to return from injury and suspension respectively, while Daryl Janmaat and Steven Taylor look set to miss out after sustaining injuries in the loss to Southampton. They will join Rob Elliot, Tim Krul, Massadio Haidara and Fabricio Coloccini on the sidelines.
Swansea have a near perfect bill of health, with the only doubt heading into the Newcastle match being Leon Britton who has a back issue. Other than that, Francesco Guidolin should name the same team that did the job over Chelsea last weekend.
Head-to-Head
Overall, Newcastle lead the head-to-head history with 22 wins to Swansea’s 15 either side of six draws. The Swans however have had the better of this fixture in recent years, winning on each of their last three visits to St James’ Park and remaining unbeaten against the Magpies since April 2012.
Previous Meeting
These two sides last met on the second week of the season back in August at the Liberty Stadium. On that day Swansea were too good for Newcastle, comfortably winning 2-0 courtesy of goals from Bafetimbi Gomis and Andre Ayew. The Magpies’ hopes of getting anything out of that game looked bleak as soon as Janmaat was sent off for two bookable offences in the first half.
CrownBet match odds at time of publishing
Prediction
After a lengthy debrief following the horror show against Southampton, Newcastle should be fired up and ready to go in front of a big crowd at St James’ Park which has been where they have collected most of their points this campaign. Swansea however, are a vastly improved outfit from the one that was touted as relegation contenders a few months ago, and ultimately the spoils will be shared which will not help the Toon Army at all.
Newcastle United 1 Swansea City 1
*CrownBet match odds at time of publishing are subject to change
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