itstargetnews
Newcastle are at home for the festivities as they face Aston Villa in a Boxing Day Premier League clash.
The Magpies remain a formidable force at St James’ Park and go into Thursday’s game with the wind in their sails. Eddie Howe’s side have scored 16 times in their previous five outings and a surge in December means they are eighth in the table at Christmas. A Carabao Cup semi-final with Armory Also heralds in the New Year.
Aston Villa followed in Newcastle’s footsteps by enjoying a return to the Champions League last season after finishing fourth. Unai Emery’s side had their work cut out for them if they were to repeat their 2023/24 performances, but a 2-1 victory made that all the more complicated. Manchester City’Saturday’s defeat means they are sixth in the table.
Surprise package Nottingham Forest are just three points clear of the fourth-placed Villans, but Newcastle will usurp their Boxing Day opponents with another win on Tyneside.
here is 90 minutes Guide to this fascinating Premier League Duel
Newcastle vs Aston Villa H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (All Competitions)
|
Newcastle |
Aston Villa |
|---|---|
|
Ipswich 0-4 Newcastle – 21/12/24 |
Aston Villa 2-1 Man City – 21/12/24 |
|
Newcastle 3-1 Brentford – 18/12/24 |
Nottingham Forest 2-1 Aston Villa – 14/12/24 |
|
Newcastle 4-0 Leicester – 14/12/24 |
RB Leipzig 2-3 Aston Villa – 10/12/24 |
|
Brentford 4-2 Newcastle – 07/12/24 |
Aston Villa 1-0 Southampton – 07/12/24 |
|
Newcastle 3-3 Liverpool – 04/12/24 |
Aston Villa 3-1 Brentford – 04/12/24 |
|
the country |
TV Channel/Live Stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Amazon Prime Video |
|
United States |
fuboTV, nbcsports.com, NBC Sports App, UNIVERSO NOW, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, USA Network, UNIVERSO |
|
Canada |
fuboTV Canada, Fubo Sports Network 3 Canada |
Sven Boatman is on the comeback trail from an ACL tear after enjoying a run-out for the U21s, but the centre-back is not expected to make his full senior return until the New Year.
Jamaal Lascelles is also recovering from a similar injury, but the Englishman is not far along in his rehabilitation.
Jolinton and Nick Pope are both doubts after missing Saturday’s win at Portman Road, while Callum Wilson and Emile Croft remain sidelined with respective hamstring and collarbone injuries.
Howe must retain a front three that has been firing on all cylinders over the past month. Anthony Gordon has been a constant presence on the right, Alexander Isak bagged a hat-trick at the weekend, while Jacob Murphy has suddenly found his scoring boots after a slow start to the season.
Newcastle Predicted Lineup vs Aston Villa (4-4-1-1):pop; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Willock; Murphy, Isaac, Gordon.
The visitors’ injury list is much shorter than Newcastle’s and Jacob Murphy is the only concern in this Boxing Day clash. The Villa midfielder is nursing a hamstring injury and is unlikely to return to Tyneside.
Emery could pick the same starting XI after Saturday’s 2-1 win over the champions. The Villa boss used Boubacar Kamara and Amadou Onana to free up Youri Tielemans in a ruse against the Citizens.
John Duran deserves to retain his place after scoring among the best all-round performances of the weekend.
Aston Villa predicted lineup against Newcastle (4-3-3): Martinez; Cash, Consa, Taurus, Digne; Kamara, Onana, Tillemans; McGinn, Duran, Rogers.
It may be a 3pm kick-off, but the fixture won’t succumb to a blackout with Amazon Prime streaming all Boxing Day outings in the UK.
Newcastle are always high-octane on the big occasion at St James’ Park, and they are facing a Villa side who found their best groove at the weekend. His performance against the champions was superb, but performing at that level in this environment is another challenge entirely.
A purring Magpie attack will back itself up against an aggressive Villa defensive line, but this contest will be won or lost in the middle of the park. This is a stellar balance in the engine room and has been the key to his team’s recent successes.
All three results are on the table here, but we’ll give the edge to the in-form hosts on Tyneside.
