A huge game at St James' Park as fourth-place Newcastle take on fifth-place Chelsea in a six-pointer for those Champions League places.
With Aston Villa moving level on points with us yesterday following a 1-0 win at Bournemouth, the stakes couldn't be higher - but we also have third place in mind, knowing we'd leapfrog Man City with a victory after their shock draw at Southampton yesterday.
Here's how the two sides line up!
Newcastle XI: : Pope; Schar, Botman, Burn; Murphy, Guimaraes, Tonali, Livramento; Barnes, Isak, Gordon.
Subs: Dubravka, Ruddy, Lascelles, Krafth, Longstaff, Miley, Osula, Neave, Wilson
Chelsea XI: Sanchez – Caicedo, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella – Lavia, Enzo – Madueke, Palmer, Neto – Jackson.
Howe has made changes, seeing Sven Botman and Anthony Gordon come into the side.
Kieran Trippier and Joe Willock both miss out with minor injuries, while Joelinton is absent again.
However, there is a place on the bench for Jamaal Lascelles after his full recovery from an ACL last year.
Howe's pre-match comments
Speaking to the media on Friday, Howe had this to say heading into the game:
On the role fans have to play - "We need to crowd with us - we always say that - but it's absolutely imperative in these last two games that we know they will be for us. "Sometimes with the early kickoffs they can just surprise you a little bit. You wake up and it's just very unusual for the players. "Then the crowd has to adapt and we all have to adapt to be ready for the kick off and to be in full voice." HWTL!
On our home advantage – “Our home form has been good, we have a great environment to play in, we need the crowd with us, it is imperative. We know they will be there for us, and we have to perform for them. It is the kind of game that we need to rise to the occasion.”
