Newcastle – Leicester City: Newcastle United hopes to build off its scoreless home draw with Liverpool when it concludes a nightmarish week of fixtures with a visit from Leicester City at St. James’ Park on Sunday (start time 9:15 am ET on NBCSN and online via NBCSports.com).
The Magpies lost to Man City 2-0 on Sunday before drawing the Reds 0-0 on Wednesday, and now get another top four contender in Leicester City.
Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes are coming off a surprising draw at Crystal Palace which has them third, four points back of leaders Liverpool and one back of the Manchester United side they drew 2-2 at the weekend. Their 29 points are 10 more than their 14th-place Sunday hosts.
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After losing his first match versus Newcastle as Leicester City boss, Rodgers has led the Foxes to 5-3, 3-0, and 5-0 wins. He is 6W-3D-4L all-time against the Magpies between Reading, Swansea, Liverpool, and Leicester City.
On the flip side, Steve Bruce boasted a quality record against Rodgers until those aforementioned three losses. He’s now 2W-2D-4L all-time when the Northern Irishman is in the other dugout.
NEWCASTLE – LEICESTER CITY STREAM LIVE
Team news
Newcastle is being tested, with Allan Saint-Maximin and Jamaal Lascelles long-term absences after COVID-19 struggles and Martin Dubravka still yet to return to the team (though Karl Darlow has been quite good in his place). Jonjo Shelvey was rested in the scoreless draw with old pals Liverpool, as was Sean Longstaff as Miguel Almiron came off the bench. All may be bets to start with Isaac Hayden’s late yellow card versus the Reds giving him an accumulation suspension.
It’s almost exclusively good news in terms of Leicester City’s injuries, as Ricardo Pereira is back training. He was spotted with Jamie Vardy, Wesley Fofana, and Cengiz Under, who have been nursing knocks, while Wilfried Ndidi has returned to the field and Caglar Soyuncu was on the bench against Palace.
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HWTL! ⚫️⚪️
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— Leicester City (@LCFC) January 3, 2021
Odds and ends (full odds provided by our partner, PointsBet)
Newcastle is not expected to replicate Wednesday’s magic, at +425 to win and +290 for a draw, while Leicester City is heavy favorites at -164 to collect all three points.
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Prediction
The Magpies are gritty and Shelvey can pull the strings, but Hayden’s absence should loom large when considered alongside the continued lack of Saint-Maximin and Lascelles. Surely this could be close but Leicester’s improved health might be too much for the Magpies to overcome, even at home. Newcastle 1-3 Leicester City.
How to watch Newcastle – Leicester City start time, stream link
Kickoff: 9:15 am ET Sunday
TV Channel: NBCSN
Stream: Online via NBCSports.com
