Seeking their first Premier League win of the season at the 15th attempt, Newcastle United welcome fellow strugglers Burnley to St James' Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Magpies played out a 1-1 draw with Norwich City in midweek, while Sean Dyche's men took a point from their meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Match preview
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Ciaran Clark's ninth-minute red card summed up the start to Newcastle's 2021-22 season, with their hopes of a first victory of the season against Norwich dashed early on after a last-man foul from the 32-year-old.
However, Norwich's inability to take advantage of their extra man saw Callum Wilson convert from the penalty spot after Billy Gilmour's handball, but the 10 men of Newcastle could not hang on as Teemu Pukki rifled in a stellar equaliser.
Not a terrific watch for the neutrals nor those inside St James' Park, Newcastle's one-pointer with Norwich sees them remain bottom of the pile with just seven points taken from a possible 42, as Eddie Howe struggles to make an immediate positive impression.
Sixteen goals scored at the correct end of the pitch is nothing to be sniffed at, but with a league-high 30 conceded - 17 of which have come at St James' Park - defensive deficiencies have plagued this Newcastle team under three different managers.
The Magpies can take solace in the fact that they have scored at least two goals in four of their seven home games this term - despite failing to win any of them - and Burnley are hardly renowned for their attacking capabilities away from home.
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Burnley were arguably fortunate to come away from their clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers with a point in the bag, as Adama Traore's drive rattled the crossbar and Hwang Hee-chan also went close for the hosts in midweek.
However, Dyche'e side dug deep and held on to claim an unlikely draw versus the European chasers, but that result has done little to drag them away from danger ahead of Saturday's battle between the Premier League's basement boys.
The Clarets can now boast a five-game unbeaten streak in the top flight - with their last three all ending in draws - but they remain below the dotted line in 18th, three points below Watford who have played a game more.
The extra rest granted from their battle against Tottenham Hotspur being postponed undeniably helped them in midweek, but their Premier League winless streak on the road now stands at eight games - only upcoming opponents Newcastle have also failed to win on the road so far this term.
Burnley have already knocked Newcastle out of the EFL Cup on penalties this season, but the Magpies won both games in the Premier League last term and have lost just one of their last seven against the Clarets in the top flight.
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Team News
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Clark will miss out here due to suspension owing to his straight red card in the Norwich draw, but Jamaal Lascelles makes a timely return from a ban of his own to slot back into defence.
Matt Ritchie is also back from suspension but may struggle to displace Jamal Lewis at left-back, and Paul Dummett remains the only injury concern for the home side.
Ryan Fraser should be good to go again after being sacrificed for an extra body in defence against Norwich, with Miguel Almiron struggling to force his way into the XI.
As for Burnley, James Tarkowski and Ashley Westwood both return from bans to take their rightful spots in the XI, with Nathan Collins and Jack Cork likely to make way.
Phil Bardsley is all but ruled out with a niggling injury, while Ashley Barnes and Dale Stephens also take their spots in the treatment room for the visitors.
One of Jay Rodriguez or Matej Vydra could come into contention for a start up top alongside Chris Wood, which could see Maxwel Cornet shifted out wide as Johann Berg Gudmundsson drops out.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Manquillo, Schar, Lascelles, Lewis; Fraser, Willock, Shelvey, Saint-Maximin; Wilson, Joelinton
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; McNeil, Brownhill, Westwood, Cornet; Wood, Vydra
We say: Newcastle United 2-1 Burnley
Finding the back of the net has never been a problem for this Newcastle side, and failure to beat Burnley on their own patch would certainly spell danger for the rest of the season.
The Clarets have developed a resilient streak of old in recent weeks, but we are backing Newcastle's talented attack to finally fire them to a first win of the 2021-22 campaign here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
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 Newcastle United win with a probability of 37%. A win for Burnley had a probability of 33.32% and a draw had a probability of 29.7%.
The most likely scoreline for a Newcastle United win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.41%) and 2-0 (7.2%). The likeliest Burnley win was 0-1 (12.22%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.46%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 13.1% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Newcastle United in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Newcastle United.
