Newcastle United will host Nottingham Forest in the early kickoff on Boxing Day. Edgar Howe’s team fell 1-0 to Luton Town on Saturday. Nuno Espirito Santo’s first game in charge of the Garibaldi ended in a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to Bournemouth. Both teams will have Tuesday to make up for their sins from the previous weekend.
Preview (Newcastle United vs Nottingham Forest)
On Boxing Day, when some people will be occupied with eating leftover turkey for lunch. Newcastle’s head coach Eddie Howe will try to come up with a formula for the Magpies. They are not finishing the year as they intend to. The Magpies have only won twice in seven games. Four days after suffering a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss to Chelsea in the EFL Cup, the erstwhile Champions League rivals were destroyed by an old rival in Andros Townsend. Townsend’s header at Kenilworth Road in the 25th minute gave Luton the victory.
Although Newcastle, who had 65% of the ball and had an equalizer disallowed for the smallest of offsides. They did not give up and now have five losses from six games in the form book. As a result of West Ham United’s 2-0 victory over Manchester United, Tuesday’s hosts are now down to seventh place in the standings. Howe’s team can find some comfort in the fact that four of their last five defeats have been away. They defeated 10-man Fulham 3-0 on December 16.
With that easy victory, the Magpies extended their incredible home winning streak in the Premier League to seven games. In that span, they have conceded just one goal while keeping six clean sheets. However, Newcastle has lost more games on Boxing Day than any other team in English league history—they have lost 46 times on the holiday. Nottingham Forest supporters welcomed Santo to town with warm cheers, despite the City Ground’s fondness for the now-unemployed Steve Cooper. However, their pre-game optimism transformed into post-game wrath after an engrossing and contentious five-goal thriller.
Team News
Jamaal Lascelles, the captain of Newcastle and a graduate of Nottingham Forest’s academy, could miss his chance to see his old team this week after being substituted out during Saturday’s defeat to Luton due to what appears to be a thigh injury. Howe is still unsure of the extent of his concern, though. Lewis Miley was also substituted out early at Kenilworth Road. However, Howe maintained that the 17-year-old’s departure was tactical and preventative.
The Newcastle injured list still includes Sandro Tonali (suspended), Joe Willock (calf), Harvey Barnes (foot), Nick Pope (shoulder), Elliott Anderson (back), Jacob Murphy (shoulder), Javi Manquillo (groin), and Matt Targett (thigh). This week, Howe and Santo can relate to each other’s defensive worries because Boly’s controversial dismissal against Bournemouth has resulted in a one-game suspension. This means that Moussa Niakhate will start alongside Murillo in the Reds’ starting lineup.
While Serge Aurier (calf) and Abraham Sangare (groin) are questionable for the game, Felipe (muscular issue) may recover to bolster the visiting team’s defense even more. Taiwo Awoniyi, on the other hand, will be sidelined for several months due to a major groin injury. Divock Origi’s rare Premier League debut was cut short by Boly’s dismissal, but the former Liverpool player was dangerous early on in Saturday’s match and might get another opportunity on the right side.
Newcastle United 2-1 Nottingham Forest
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