Newcastle United and Bournemouth will both be seeing Saturday's early kick off as massive chance to gain a crucial three points.
Newcastle go into the game on the back of a tight 0-0 draw against Stoke City, whilst the home side are looking to bounce back after four defeats on the spin.
The Stats
The last time these two sides met, Bournemouth knocked Newcastle out of the FA Cup on penalties and they will be looking to earn a victory again, 23 years on. They may just do so too. Newcastle have been poor on the road this year and have shipped 13 goals on their travels this season. Bournemouth, on the other hand, have been playing well at home and have one win and two draws to their name at The Vitality Stadium.
To make matters worse for the visitors, they've only picked up one win away from home in 2015, when they defeated Hull City all the way back in January.
Keeper Crisis
With Tim Krul out for the season, Rob Elliot gets another chance to shine in his absence. The Irishman filled in for Krul for a spell last season but himself picks up injuries quite frequently. This has been the case once again, as he has suffered another injury to his thigh. NUFC claim Elliot's involvement in the squad will be touch and go until kick off, with medical staff set to examine him thoroughly before Saturday lunchtime. In his place is likely to be youngster Freddie Woodman.
Woodman is highly rated by personnel at the club and is set to be a huge star in the future. However, since Newcastle have so many 'keepers out injured, they can sign a shot-stopper on an emergency loan. Names like Mark Schwarzer and Julian Speroni have been mentioned but none come close to the mouth watering prospect of Manchester United's forgotten man, Victor Valdes.
Gosling Won't Feel Pressure
Ex-Magpie Dan Gosling says he won't feel any extra pressure when he faces his old side at the weekend. Gosling made a measely 24 appearances for Newcastle over an injury-hit four years. His recurring fitness problems never allowed him to reach his full potential and we rarely saw glimpses of talent that he had shown at Everton in his early days.
The 24-year-old midfielder also claims, 'his face never fitted' at Newcastle, but claims he hold no grudge against the club. He has recently refound his old form and has been holding down a place in Bournemouth's line up since the start of the season.
McClaren's Future
After Steve McClaren's poor start to life on Tyneside, he told fans to 'judge him after 10 games', and here we are after 11 games looking at Newcastle in the bottom three. But will a defeat on Saturday spell the end of his short tenure in charge?
We all know Mike Ashley has a lot of patience when it comes to managers. Alan Pardew faced almost monthly abuse from fans and even after numerous protests, he kept his job until resigning in December 2014. We also know that Ashley and his right hand man, Lee Charnley, are fans of the work McClaren and his team are doing off the pitch and even om the pitch, despite the results. But with Newcastle stuck in the relegation zone, will the owner feel the need to get a new man in to steady the ship. Probably not.