Newcastle United vs Everton
Date: 09/03/2019
K/O: 15:00
Venue: St James’ Park
Referee: Lee Mason
Newcastle United will play host to an Everton side that produced a vastly improved performance in their previous derby draw with Liverpool.
Building upon last week’s result and securing a second victory in their past three Premier League fixtures, could help Marco Silva convince Everton’s hierarchy that he deserves another season at the helm. While many believe Silva is currently on borrowed time, Everton are still within reach of seventh place and could make a late bid for European competition next season. If those ambitions are to be considered at all realistic Silva must begin by beating Newcastle to reduce the current six-point deficit to seventh position.
Meanwhile going unbeaten in their last three via the form of a draw would still constitute an upturn in form for the Toffees. March cannot afford to be a repeat of February where they underwent a torrid month gathering just three points from four games.
Though, defeat in the North East would almost certainly condemn Everton to mid-table obscurity. There is a chance that Watford and Wolves could have amassed a nine-point lead over Silva’s side with eight games to go by the end of the weekend. Therefore if the Portuguese manager wants to keep his job next season, defeat isn’t an option.
In contrast to Saturday’s visitors, Newcastle will be doing everything within their power to convince their manager to stay beyond this season. At least the players are even if the board aren’t, both Ayoze Perez and DeAndre Yedlin have pleaded to the club to fix Rafael Benitez’s contract situation this week. A win for the Spaniard’s side would maintain the gap to the relegation places at a minimum of six points, while possibly increasing to nine depending on results elsewhere.
Splitting a point with Everton would highlight the contrast in both club’s seasons to date. Everton began well under Silva but rapidly faded, while Newcastle started poorly but have steadily grown as the campaign has continued. Not only this but relative to the squads at each managers disposal the Toffees must be considered a disappointment; while Benitez has been able to extract the absolute maximum from his resources.
Back to back defeats for Saturday’s hosts may draw them into the relegation scrap once more, though at present their position is a comfortable enough. Benitez would be more concerned that complacency hasn’t crept in after an upturn in results of late.
Team News
Meanwhile, the talk of Tyneside is Sean Longstaff who is a slight doubt after picking up a knock against West Ham; if Longstaff isn’t fit to start then, he will almost certainly be replaced by Ki Seung-Yung in the starting line-up. Just a year ago Jonjo Shelvey was being talked about as an outsider to travel to Russia with England, but he’s currently several places down the pecking order for the Magpies.
As well as this, Matt Ritchie will continue to cover at left wing-back, a position Newcastle desperately need to recruit for over the summer. Left-back Antonio Barreca arrived on loan from Monaco in January but has failed to make an impression, with just one substitute appearance lasting four minutes.
While Everton were noticeably improved against Liverpool, their jubilation at full time signified how a frustrating season had been reduced to a single result. When Farhad Moshiri took a controlling stake in the club, he cannot have envisaged such a bewildering lack of ambition. The Toffees challenge to break into the top six was already arduous, but this season that task got significantly harder with the introduction of Wolverhampton Wanderers to the Premier League. A coherent summer recruitment strategy is vital to match Watford and Wolves next term.
Whether that includes the introduction of a new manager is yet to be seen, though one aspect of the squad desperate for improvement is a centre forward. It’s been evident to onlookers at Goodison Park from the moment Romelu Lukaku left and was never replaced, that their squad is short on goals. Though to be fair to the club recruiting a striker at a reasonable price in the current transfer climate is challenging.
Predicted Starting XIs
Newcastle United (3-4-2-1): Dubravka; Schar, Lascelles, Lejeune; Manquillo, Hayden, Ki, Ritchie; Perez, Almiron; Rondon
Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne; Schneiderlin, Gueye; Walcott, Sigurdsson, Bernard; Calvert-Lewin
Score Prediction: Newcastle United 1 Everton 1
This will be a close one and Everton will be confident heading into the fixture after their efforts last time out. Newcastle’s home field advantage should be enough to pick up at least a draw though.
