Newcastle United and Everton will be desperate to return to winning ways when they lock horns at St. James’ Park on Saturday.
The 2025/26 Premier League season resumes this week with Gameweek 28, with the latest round of fixtures kick-starting on Friday. The action on Saturday will kick off with the game between Bournemouth and Sunderland before continuing with three simultaneous matches, including Newcastle United vs Everton at St. James’ Park.
Newcastle United would have hoped for much better fortunes in the 2025/26 season, even though they are in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. However, the Magpies are 11th in the Premier League standings after winning only ten of their 27 outings thus far. So, returning to the Champions League will be a tall order for the Tyneside outfit unless they embark on a roaring run in the coming months.
On the other hand, Everton’s topsy-turvy ride in the 2025/26 Premier League season continued earlier this week, as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United. The Toffees have lost their last two games, but they remain only three points behind seventh-placed Brentford. So, David Moyes will be cautiously hopeful about securing European qualification for the 2026/27 season.
The reverse fixture saw Newcastle United cruise to a 4-1 win over Everton, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scoring the consolation goal for the Merseyside outfit. The Hard Tackle looks closer at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Newcastle United
Eddie Howe has no new injury concerns hampering his preparations ahead of his side’s latest fixture. The Newcastle United manager may be bereft of the services of half a dozen first-team players vs Everton on Saturday.
Howe is sweating over Jacob Ramsey’s fitness, with the English midfielder recovering from a hamstring injury. The summer arrival faces a late fitness test to determine his availability. Meanwhile, Valentino Livramento (hamstring), Fabian Schar (ankle), Emil Krafth (knee), Bruno Guimaraes (thigh), and Lewis Miley (thigh) remain in the treatment room.
Nick Pope is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Newcastle United lining up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him vs Everton on Saturday. The backline will feature Kieran Trippier, Malick Thiaw, Dan Burn, and Lewis Hall.
As for the midfield unit, Joe Willock will line up alongside Sandro Tonali and Joelinton in the middle of the park if Ramsey is not fit and ready to take on Everton. Finally, Anthony Gordon will lead the line for Newcastle United against Everton, with Anthony Elanga and Harvey Barnes being the two wide attackers. So, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa will be among the backup options on the bench for the home side.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Thiaw, Burn, Hall; Willock, Tonali, Joelinton; Elanga, Gordon, Barnes
Everton
Unlike his counterpart in the Newcastle United dugout, David Moyes has received a positive update on the team news front ahead of the trip to St. James’ Park. The Everton manager will be without only three first-team players on Saturday.
Jake O’Brien is available after serving a suspension in the Premier League clash with Manchester United earlier this week. However, Jack Grealish (foot) and Carlos Alcaraz (unspecified) remain in the treatment room, while backup goalkeeper Mark Travers faces a late fitness test to determine his availability.
Jordan Pickford is an automatic pick between the sticks, with Everton lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation in front of him vs Newcastle United on Saturday. The backline will feature Jake O’Brien, James Tarkowski, Michael Keane, and Jarrad Branthwaite.
As for the midfield unit, there is no looking past James Garner and Idrissa Gueye in the double pivot.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Pickford; O’Brien, Tarkowski, Keane, Branthwaite; Garner, Gueye; Armstrong, Dewsbury-Hall, Ndiaye; Barry
Key Stats
- Newcastle United are looking to complete the Premier League double over Everton for the sixth time (1993/94, 1995/96, 2001/02, 2020/21, 2022/23). Only against Tottenham Hotspur (7) have the Magpies done so against a side that many times. The Toffees won the corresponding fixture 1-0 in the 2025/26 season, and they last won away against Newcastle United in consecutive seasons between the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns.
- Newcastle United have lost four of their last five Premier League matches (W1), with no side losing more since Gameweek 23. The Magpies have lost their two most recent Premier League home matches, suffering defeats to Aston Villa and Brentford. They have not lost three successive matches since January/February 2021 under Steve Bruce.
- Everton have won the second most away points in the Premier League since David Moyes’s first away game back in charge in January last year (38). They are one of two sides to concede fewer than a goal per away game in that time (18 in 22), along with Arsenal (18 in 23).
- Newcastle United are averaging just 1.33 points per game in the Premier League this term, their lowest ratio in a season under Eddie Howe. It is Eddie Howe’s lowest since taking 34 points in 38 games with Bournemouth in 2019/20 (0.89), with the Cherries being relegated after securing an 18th-place finish.
- Only Burnley (10) have conceded more first half Premier League goals in 2026 so far than Newcastle United (9 in 8 games), and only the Clarets (28) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (22) have faced more shots on target than they have (20). They only conceded nine first half goals in 30 matches between March and December 2025.
Player to Watch
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
While Thierno Barry, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali were viable candidates for this section, we have picked Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as the Player to Watch for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Newcastle United and Everton at St. James’ Park.
Dewsbury-Hall has the most goal involvements (4) for Everton in Premier League away games this season (G3 A1), with the Toffees winning all three away matches in which he has either scored and/or assisted (vs Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United, and Fulham). So, the English midfielder will be the go-to player for David Moyes this weekend.
Prediction
Newcastle United 2-2 Everton
Recent clashes between Newcastle United and Everton put the two teams on an even keel, and they are also on similar runs since the start of February, with the away side slightly better Eddie Howe’s men. So, all signs point towards these sides engaging in a closely-contested affair this weekend.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Anthony Gordon will be the players under the spotlight, and we may not see either team being better than another. So, The Hard Tackle predicts a 2-2 draw for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Newcastle United and Everton at St. James’ Park.