Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse is a major doubt after limping off with a groin problem against Aston Villa last weekend.
Jamaal Lascelles is back in training after a hamstring injury but Saturday’s game could come too soon for him.
Everton’s James McCarthy, Bryan Oviedo, Phil Jagielka and Steven Pienaar will not be fit for Boxing Day but could feature over the festive period.
Steven Naismith has overcome an ankle injury and is available for selection.
Editor’s Note: Newcastle’s resurgence slowed slightly last Saturday as they will look at their home clash against Aston Villa and ask themselves how they didn’t come away with all 3 points. They were in front and more than in control but failure to bag a second and kill the game off proved costly.
How costly will those 2 dropped points be come the end of the season be?, who knows but Steve McClaren will at least be looking to continue their unbeaten run as they play host to a stuttering Everton side.
Romelu Lukaku is in probably the Everton form of his life but unfortunately the league form is quite matching it as The Toffees sit in 10th place and and there are slight murmurs of discontent as Everton haven’t won in their last 4 matches and last time out were bested by Leicester in a 5 goal thriller.
I think McClaren’s men are going to have a difficult job keeping Lukaku quiet this evening but I think confidence and momentum is key and Newcastle have a lot more than Everton right now so I reckon this will be a draw. Lukaku to get on the scoresheet but the Toffee’s coming unstuck
