Newcastle United vs Leicester City

The stakes are high for Newcastle United as they entertain resurgent Premier League returnees Leicester City at St James’ Park.

Newcastle United’s pursuit of a sought-after European finish following last season’s fiasco hasn’t gone to plan. Despite beating Arsenal and drawing against Liverpool and Manchester City on their home turf, Eddie Howe’s men have substantially struggled with inconsistent performances, with two-goal margin defeats to Brentford and West Ham, sandwiching back-to-back scoring draws, leaving them stuck in the bottom half of the table. Howe is under pressure to turn Newcastle’s fortunes around ahead of Leicester’s visit to St James’ Park, where they’ve gone unbeaten in their last three competitive H2Hs (W2, D1). Further confidence comes from the Magpies’ sterling record of just one defeat from 21 Premier League matches against newly promoted clubs (W12, D8), increasing the likelihood of their first home triumph since the start of November.

However, visiting Leicester City will take the field in high spirits after pulling off an incredible late comeback to hold Brighton to a 2-2 home draw last weekend despite lagging two goals behind in the 86th minute. Interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has steadied the ship since taking over from Steve Cooper, inspiring Leicester to consecutive unbeaten league matches (W1, D1) following a disastrous run of four defeats from five prior games (D1). But it’s worth noting that this will be the Dutchman’s first away game in charge, with the Foxes losing their last two Premier League outings on the road via a three-goal margin! Those defeats form part of Leicester’s lackluster away league form in 2024/25 (W1, D2, L4), conceding an average of 2.57 goals per match.