Eddie Howe's red-hot Newcastle United side are out to record their ninth straight win in all competitions when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers at St James' Park on Wednesday night.
Both teams eliminated lower-league opposition from the FA Cup over the weekend, as the Magpies survived a scare to sink Bromley, while Vitor Pereira's men conquered Bristol City away from home.
Match preview
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Taking two significant steps towards ending a trophy drought stretching back almost 70 full years, Newcastle have one foot firmly in the EFL Cup final and will enjoy an FA Cup fourth-round date with Birmingham City next month thanks to their exertions over the past week.
After capitalising on Arsenal's wastefulness with their own ruthlessness in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final, Howe's men did it the hard way in the FA Cup against Bromley, as Lewis Miley, Anthony Gordon and Will Osula responded to Cameron Congreve's shock opener.
As well as pursuing their first major trophy since 1955 - unless the 2006 Intertoto Cup is counted as a significant piece of silverware - the marvellous Magpies have entered the top-four conversation in the Premier League thanks to five straight successes in the top flight.
Only Nottingham Forest have also taken 15 points from the last 15 on offer in the Premier League, although Newcastle's 2-1 success over Tottenham Hotspur two weekends ago was clouded in handball controversy, as Ange Postecoglou was left the 'angriest he's ever been' after a football match.
As the apoplectic Australian raged, Newcastle rejoiced in moving to within one point of fourth-placed Chelsea - at least until Tuesday evening - in the Premier League table, and Wednesday's hosts have now scored at least two goals in each of their last 10 matches across all competitions.
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Newcastle's penchant for multiple-goal showings gives rise to an enthralling affair against Wolves, who hold the honour of being the Premier League's most entertaining team in 2024-25 statistically speaking; their games have seen a division-high 76 goals, 31 for and 45 against.
The Old Gold are yet to be involved in a top-flight game with fewer than two goals in the 2024-25 season, and that theme also carried over to the FA Cup, where Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rodrigo Gomes's strikes sunk Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Saturday.
Vitor Pereira's men have much bigger fish to fry in the top flight, though, as after former head coach Nuno Espirito Santo masterminded a 3-0 win for surprise package Nottingham Forest on January 6, 17th-placed Wolves are only above the relegation zone on goal difference at the time of writing.
However, the Forest-inflicted defeat was the first and only one that Wolves have suffered under Pereira's wing so far, and the 56-year-old has overseen a three-match unbeaten run on the road since taking over from Gary O'Neil, with at least two goals scored on each occasion to boot.
The visitors have to go back to October 2021 for their most recent win over Newcastle, though, and the Magpies are now unbeaten in six straight meetings with Wolves, who could now lose both league fixtures against the Magpies in one season for the first time in 119 years.
Team News
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The only blot on the Newcastle notebook from their FA Cup win over Bromley was the muscular injury that forced Harvey Barnes off at half time, and Howe has admitted that he is worried about losing the English winger for an unspecified amount of time.
The Magpies already had to cope without the newly-stricken quartet of Alexander Isak (thigh), Sven Botman (groin), Jacob Murphy (muscle) and Joe Willock (knock) for the third-round tie, but none of the four is believed to be carrying a serious problem, and appearances in midweek have not been ruled out for any of them.
However, Jamaal Lascelles (knee), Callum Wilson (thigh), Emil Krafth (shoulder) and Nick Pope (knee) are still sidelined for the hosts, who are managing to cling onto Martin Dubravka for the time being as Al Shabab continue to push for the Slovakian's signature.
As Newcastle work to have their star attacker back for Wednesday's game, Wolves will definitely have theirs available again, as Matheus Cunha has completed a two-match suspension and is now eligible to spearhead the Old Gold attack once more.
Pereira has conceded that Craig Dawson (calf), Nelson Semedo (thigh) and Toti Gomes (thigh) are all likely to miss out again, though, while Mario Lemina is battling an illness but has been urged by his manager to make a definitive decision on whether he wishes to stay or leave.
Sasa Kalajdzic, Boubacar Traore, Enso Gonzalez and Yerson Mosquera are all long-term absentees with their knee problems, but there is a slim chance that Traore could be back in action before the end of the month.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton; Murphy, Isak, Gordon
Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Sa; Doherty, Agbadou, Bueno; R. Gomes, Andre, J. Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Cunha, Hwang; Larsen
We say: Newcastle United 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
The importance of Cunha's return for Wolves cannot be overstated, and doubts over the fitness of a couple of Newcastle's own attacking threats may give the travelling faithful hope of a St James' upset.
The visitors still possess the worst defensive record in the division, though, and Howe's men still have our vote to edge a close contest and extend their victorious streak to a terrific nine matches.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ben Knapton
