Newcastle came up with a resilient performance to pick up a 1-1 draw with Everton at Goodison Park. Salomon Rondon provided the opening goal of the game from a fine counter-attacking situation in the 19th minute. Richarlison equalised from a corner just six minutes before half-time, but Newcastle held on for a point. Wolves came up with an impressive comeback to pick up a 2-1 victory over Chelsea in the midweek action. Despite going down to Ruben Loftus-Cheek's deflected shot in the first half, Nuno's men came up with two goals in the second half – through Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota – to pick up a crucial victory.
Wolves will be facing a much-improved Newcastle team, which is playing with a lot of confidence than ever before, at the St James' Park. It is a tough proposition for Nuno's men, despite coming in with some impressive results this season. Newcastle are expected to be more adventurous than they were in the game against Everton. Even though Wolves will be playing a counter-attacking style, there is sufficient confidence within Newcastle to pick up a victory in this match.
The game is likely to witness goals at both ends with Wolves possessing a lot of quality going forward. After playing a starring role against Chelsea, Gibbs-White will get a lot of focus in this match. Even then, he has showed an impressive quality that adds a different dimension to Wolves. I would opt for both teams to score.
Rafa Benitez has done an excellent job in the last few weeks at Newcastle, as he has been able to put aside doubts surrounding his future to ensure that the club picked up 11 points from the last six matches. In doing so, Newcastle have fared better than the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United during this period. Newcastle can now aim for a push towards the top 10 places with the team a comfortable four points ahead of the drop zone. The game against Everton also showed that the squad is quite flexible for trying out different formations.
Fabian Schar is suspended for the match, while Karl Darlow (elbow) is unavailable due to an injury.
Wolves have played extremely well in most of the matches this season but they have not been happily rewarded with good results. However, Nuno cannot have any complaints about the victory over Chelsea which came about even when the team were not at their best. It has helped to revive Wolves' campaign in a positive way. The team are now just three points away from catching Leicester City in the ninth-place, which is a sizeable position compared to clubs objective of avoiding relegation when they were promoted in the summer. Raul Jimenez has been a star performer for Wolves from the season, but the emergence of Gibbs-White has certainly caught the attention of many scouts.
Johny (ligament) is the only player unavailable for Wolves.