Premier League: Newcastle United vs Everton preview

Newcastle are looking to make another step towards safety when they host Everton at St. James' Park on Saturday. The reverse fixture, played at the beginning of December, ended 1-1 at Goodison Park with first-half goals from Salomon Rondon for Newcastle and Richarlison for Everton. The Toffees have won five of the last six direct matches and they also managed to record clean sheets in all those five wins. The last time Newcastle defeated Everton was in 2014, when they recorded a 3-2 home victory. Overall, Everton have won eight of the last ten matches against the Magpies. Newcastle are hoping to have a quiet ending to the season, they have managed to crawl out of the relegation zone and a few more victories would guarantee their place in the Premier League for another campaign. Last week they had their three-game unbeaten streak snapped by a 2-0 defeat at West Ham United, but they are still six points clear of the danger area in 14th place. The Magpies have won their last four home matches in the Premier League, starting with a 2-1 victory over leaders Manchester City. Sean Longstaff, Ciaran Clark and Robert Elliot are injured and won't be in the squad for this match. Everton have their own objective for the final part of this season, and that target is to finish inside the top half of the Premier League table. They are currently in tenth position, two points behind ninth-placed West Ham and also two points ahead of eleventh-placed Leicester City. Last weekend they managed to hold rivals Liverpool to a goalless draw in the Merseyside derby, their first draw since December. However, they lost three of their last five matches and five of the last eight in all competitions. Leighton Baines is injured and won't play in this match, while Phil Jagielka is a doubt. Probable line-ups: Newcastle: Dubravka - Yedlin, Schar, Lascelles, Lejeune, Ritchie - Perez, Diame, Hayden, Almiron - Rondon Everton: Pickford - Coleman, Keane, Zouma, Digne - Gueye, Schneiderlin - Richarlison, Sigurdsson, Bernard - Calvert-Lewin My prediction: Newcastle to win 1-0, the Magpies have been extremely strong at home lately. Here are the odds for the match at Bet365: Newcastle win - 2.70 Draw - 3.20 Everton win - 2.62