Preview: Newcastle United vs Aston Villa - prediction, team news, lineups

St James' Park is the venue for an utterly fascinating Premier League encounter on Sunday afternoon, when Newcastle United welcome Aston Villa to their northern home.

The Magpies trail the Lions by 10 points in the top-flight table, but the visitors' hopes of a title miracle have suffered a handful of setbacks in recent times.

Match preview

Sideways was the way for Newcastle against Wolverhampton Wanderers in their most recent Premier League game, where the Magpies recorded their highest pass success rate on record (94%) without having a shot on target in the first half of a top-flight match.

Eddie Howe's troops did not rediscover their best shooting boots in the second period either, as their three-game Premier League winning run came to an end in a painful 0-0 draw with the basement side - albeit a resurgent basement side.

A first top-flight setback of 2026 left Sunday's hosts outside of the European places in eighth spot, but in the extremely hotly-contested battle for the continental positions, only three points separate Newcastle from fourth-placed Liverpool at the time of writing.

While the Magpies were stunted at Molineux, they come into gameweek 23 having scored at least twice in each of their last eight Premier League home games, avoiding defeat in all of them and winning each of their first two in 2026.

The last time Newcastle won their first three top-flight games of a calendar year was in 2012 - eerily, Aston Villa were their third opponents in that sequence - and Howe's men needed no goalscoring lessons in their 3-0 Champions League beating of PSV Eindhoven in midweek.

Also riding high off the back of a continental win, Aston Villa's 1-0 Europa League triumph over Fenerbahce - courtesy of a Jadon Sancho strike - saw the Lions immediately bounce back from their own domestic disappointment.

Still regarded as surprise title challengers alongside the established Arsenal and Manchester City, Unai Emery's charges failed to capitalise on slip-ups from the current gold and silver medallists, suffering an increasingly rare home defeat to Everton.

A Thierno Barry chip snapped Villa's sensational 11-match winning streak at Villa Park and left the Lions seven points off of leaders Arsenal, but also seven clear of fourth place as the business end approaches.

Not only did Emery's men lose their astonishing home sequence against Everton, the Villans also failed to score for the second straight Premier League home game, and the goalscoring metrics on the road do not make for the most pleasant reading.

Even though Villa have the joint second-best away form in the 2025-26 Premier League, Emery's side have actually conceded more goals (16) than they have scored (15) on their travels - not the best omen before a trip to a ground where they are winless in a staggering 17 top-flight games.

Newcastle United Premier League form:

Newcastle United form (all competitions):

Aston Villa Premier League form:

Aston Villa form (all competitions):

Team News

Newcastle's comfortable success over PSV came at a potentially serious cost, as midfield metronome Bruno Guimaraes was taken off just before half time with an ankle injury, but Howe is still keeping his fingers crossed over the Brazilian for this weekend.

Lewis Miley, Joe Willock and Jacob Ramsey are all like-for-like alternatives, but none can match the importance of Guimaraes to this Newcastle side, who have never won a Premier League game without the South American in the first XI since his arrival.

Elsewhere on the fitness front, Dan Burn (rib) and Will Osula (ankle) are pushing to be available, but Tino Livramento (hamstring), Emil Krafth (knee), Fabian Schar (ankle) and Jacob Murphy (hamstring) remain out.

Meanwhile, Villa came out of their win over Fenerbahce unscathed, but John McGinn was an early withdrawal in the Everton defeat with a fresh knee injury, one that is expected to rule him out for weeks.

Fellow knee victims Boubacar Kamara and Ross Barkley are still out of contention too, while first-choice goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez (calf) needs a once-over after sitting out the midweek success.

In brighter news, Amadou Onana is back fit and could displace Lamare Bogarde in the middle, while Sancho ought to be retained up top after becoming just the second Englishman to score for four different clubs in UEFA competitions, following in Peter Crouch's footsteps.

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:

Pope; Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Miley, Tonali, Joelinton; Barnes, Woltemade, Gordon

Aston Villa possible starting lineup:

Bizot; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Maatsen; Tielemans, Onana; Sancho, Rogers, Buendia; Watkins

We say: Newcastle United 1-1 Aston Villa

While there is no way of knowing whether Guimaraes will be fit and available, there is no confident prediction that can be made, such is the impact that the Brazilian's presence - and indeed absence - has on the hosts.

Regardless, Aston Villa have lost their ruthless touch somewhat over the past couple of weeks and should not come away with all of the spoils, but they will likely be good enough for a point.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.