Newcastle United and Leeds United will both be searching for their first Premier League win of the season when they meet at St. James’ Park on Friday night.
Leeds sit seventeenth in the table on two points, having registered two draws and two losses from their opening four matches.
𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝟐 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝.@LUFC travel to Newcastle United this Friday in the @premierleague.We've compared the stats of Sean Longstaff and @dallas_stuart ahead of the game. #LUFC #MOT @ClarionLaw pic.twitter.com/xDBu28IdXK— Leeds United StatZone (@lufcsz) September 13, 2021
𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝟐 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝.@LUFC travel to Newcastle United this Friday in the @premierleague.We've compared the stats of Sean Longstaff and @dallas_stuart ahead of the game. #LUFC #MOT @ClarionLaw pic.twitter.com/xDBu28IdXK
Newcastle, on the other hand, find themselves in nineteenth place with just a single point to their name – recording one draw and three defeats this term.
The Magpies lost their opening three games this season, going down to West Ham and Aston Villa in the league, before losing to Burnley in the EFL Cup.
They then picked up their only points so far by drawing with Southampton. However, they were completely outclassed by Manchester United last weekend.
Steve Bruce’s men saw just 35% possession at Old Trafford and ended up suffering a hefty 4-1 defeat, with Cristiano Ronaldo starring.
Newcastle have only managed to win one of their previous six matches in all competitions, having finished the previous campaign on a sour note.
If their recent results are anything to go by, they look set for another difficult season in the English top-flight.
On the flip side, Leeds have only lost three of their last 16 outings in all competitions, thanks to a solid end to last season.
They have started the new campaign poorly, however, losing to Man Utd and Liverpool, as well as drawing with Everton and Burnley.
Marcelo Bielsa’s side conceded a whopping 30 shots against Liverpool last weekend, suffering a 3-0 loss on home soil.
Funnily enough, Newcastle (12) are the only team in the Premier League to have conceded more goals than Leeds (11) this term.
Head-to-head: Leeds did the double over Newcastle last season, winning 5-2 at Elland Road before securing a 2-1 win at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle have only lost two of their previous eight meetings with Leeds, though, sealing four wins and two draws in the process.
Team news: Martin Dubravka, Jonjo Shelvey, Ryan Fraser, Paul Dummett, Callum Wilson and Elliott Anderson are all currently sidelined for Newcastle.
As for Leeds, Adam Forshaw, Diego Llorente and Robin Koch are injured, while Pascal Struijk is suspended after picking up a red card last time out.
Both these sides have been conceding a lot of goals this season, so they are likely to produce a high-scoring encounter on Friday.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that over 3.5 goals will be scored at St. James’ Park, with the hosts coming out on top.