Newcastle United and Huddersfield Town are ready to face off in a bottom of the table-clash at St. James’s Park on Saturday.
The Magpies are going into the game on an impressive run where they have managed to register eight points in last five games, and most importantly suffered just one defeat, which came against Liverpool at Anfield.
More importantly, in both the games where Newcastle went on to register draws against Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, the team missed a lot of chances of putting the match to bed after taking the lead.
On the other hand, even though Huddersfield have also collected seven points in last five games, they looked far less convincing than their recent form suggests.
Last time, when both teams met on August 20 last year, it was David Wagner’s men who emerged 1-0 victors, courtesy of Aaron Mooy’s 50th minute strike, which means the Toon Army will be eager to take revenge in the weekend clash.
Silimani to debut?
On-loan Leicester City striker Islam Silimani joined the Magpies on the final day of the January transfer window, but has yet to debut for his new club due to multiple injuries.
However, the 29-year-old is now fully fit and has also represented his country Algeria in the international friendly against Iran for 25 minutes.
It will be interesting to see if Silimani will debut in the match against Huddersfield, especially considering the fact that striker Dwight Gayle is in sublime form for his club.
Kenedy, the difference?
On loan Chelsea winger Kenedy joined Newcastle on the final day of the recently concluded transfer window, and has so far impressed everyone with his pace and ability to open up opposition’s defense.
His presence has also helped the likes of Matt Ritchie, who now has more freedom going forward and is now once again looking like goal-scoring threat.
Kenedy scored a brace for the Magpies in their 3-0 win against Southampton two weeks ago, and manager Rafa Benitez will be hoping for another impressive performance from the 22-year-old come Saturday.