Newcastle United will look to strengthen their Champions League qualification hopes as they host Fulham at St James’ Park for a Premier League showdown on Saturday afternoon.
The Magpies will be aiming for revenge after a 3-1 defeat to the Cottagers in the reverse fixture back in September.
Match preview
Since mid-December, Newcastle have been almost faultless as they have celebrated 10 wins across their last 11 matches in all competitions – a heavy, and somewhat surprising, 4-1 home defeat to high-flying Bournemouth represents the only blot on their copybook during this period.
The Magpies responded to that Premier League loss with a 3-1 away victory over basement club Southampton last weekend, with their talisman Alexander Isak netting a brace to become the first Newcastle player to score in five consecutive PL away matches, and also increase his top-flight goal tally for the season to 17.
Eddie Howe was pleased with the response of his players after going a goal behind at St Mary’s; only Manchester City (17) have won more Premier League points from losing positions than Newcastle (15) this season, while the Magpies have now won four games after conceding first in 2024-25, their most in one campaign since 2002-03 (also four).
Sitting fifth in the table and level on points with Man City in fourth, Newcastle have a challenging run of fixtures on the horizon, with this weekend’s clash against Fulham followed four days later by their EFL Cup semi-final second leg with Arsenal – a tie they lead 2-0 – and three top-flight battles with Man City, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool.
No team have accumulated more PL points than Newcastle (21) across their last eight games, though, while the Magpies are unbeaten in their last eight top-flight home meetings with Fulham (W5 D3), keeping six clean sheets in the process, so there is reason for Howe and co to be optimistic of success on Saturday.
Fulham are still harbouring realistic aspirations of securing European football for next season, but a run of just three wins in their last 12 Premier League matches (D6 L3) has not helped their cause.
The Cottagers picked up their first three points of 2025 after beating Leicester City 2-0 at the King Power Stadium a fortnight ago – their fourth away win of the campaign – but they were beaten 1-0 by a struggling Manchester United outfit at Craven Cottage last weekend, conceding the only shot on target they faced in the entire match 12 minutes from time.
Marco Silva bemoaned Fulham’s “cruel” defeat and Man United’s “very lucky” match-winner after the game, and he now sees his side sitting in 10th place in the Premier League table, seven points behind the top seven and eight points behind the top four with 15 games still remaining.
While Fulham have failed to win any of their last five home league games, they have only lost one of their last seven on the road (W3 D3). The Cottagers have collected a total of 16 points away from home this season, which is only two points fewer than they managed last season.
After beating Newcastle earlier this season, Fulham travel to St James’ Park this weekend seeking to complete their third Premier League double over the Magpies, having previously done so in 2006-07 and 2008-09.
