11th hosts 10th at St James Park on Sunday as Newcastle United entertain Stoke City in their latest Premier League fixture. Both sides will be looking to take three points and go above Swansea City into 9th place.
Newcastle, after losing manager Alan Pardew to Crystal Palace, have shown signs of a semi resurgence under interim boss John Carver after narrowly losing to high flyers Southampton and thrashing Hull last week. They find themselves well clear of the relegation zone, with real potential to finish the season strongly in the top half. The high points of their season so far will be the run where they beat Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City in succession, or their 2-1 home win over league leaders Chelsea.
A key man for the Toon could be Ayoze Perez, he looks to build upon his good form this season. Since moving from Tenerife in the summer, he has scored 5 goals, including a winner against Liverpool, and will be looking to add to that on Sunday. The striker is fairly small in stature, at only 5'10 and it will be interesting to see if his considerable technical ability can outwit a tall, strong Stoke City defence.
Stoke have continued their improvement under Mark Hughes this season, as the Welshman contiues seeking to attain a more attractive style of play. Spanish playmaker Bojan helped them do this and had really began to light up the Premier League following his move from Barcelona, before a knee injury curtailed his progress and ruled him out for the rest of the season. Stoke still lie in the top half though, and will meet Blackburn in the FA Cup 5th round later in February.
A key man for the Potters is sure to be goalkeeper Asmir Begovic. The Bosnian has been reportedly chased by top clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool for a number of years however has remained at Stoke, becoming something of a club legend. Standing tall at 6'6, Begovic will have to be ready from set pieces when Newcastle's influx of tall defenders and midfielders enter the Stoke penalty area.
Team news:
Newcastle have a few players returning from injury with Paul Dummett, Gabriel Obertan and Ryan Taylor all set to return from their injuries. Markman Papiss Cisse has trained for a week since returning from the African Cup Of Nations and could make his comeback. Siem De Jong (thigh) and Rolando Aarons (hamstring) both won't be available, with their respective injuries keeping them sidelined.
For Stoke, captain Ryan Shawcross is out with a back problem that forced him off during the 3-1 victory over QPR last week. The hat-trick hero of the QPR win Jon Walters is a doubt, after picking up a knee injury that has prevented him from training this week. Erik Pieters (hernia) remains out injured, as do Peter Odemwingie and Bojan (both knee).
Last five (all competitions):
Newcastle: WLLLD
Stoke: WWWLW
When they last met:
Stoke defeated Newcastle 1-0 at the Brittania Stadium in early september, with a Peter Crouch header after 15 minutes seperating the two sides. The result left Newcastle second bottom of the table whilst Stoke rued the fact that they could have won by more, after having a couple of refereeing decisions go against them.
Match facts:
Newcastle have scored the most goals from players coming off the bench this season with nine goals.
Despite their height, 46% of Stoke's goals have been conceded from set pieces, the highest percentage in the Premier League.
Stoke have only won seven of their 31 away Premier League games under Mark Hughes.
Stoke have more points (32) from 23 matches than they have had at this stage in any other top flight campaign.
Papiss Cisse has four goals against Stoke City since signing for Newcastle.
Stoke have the lowest shooting accuracy in the league this season, with 36% of their shots hitting the target.