Skip to main content

A mid-table clash between two sides with not a lot left to play for will be Monday night's entertainment on TV.

Everton and Newcastle are safe from the drop and are out of the running for European qualification, but both will want to finish above the other to cap off contrasting seasons on and off the pitch.

Here's the lowdown on everything worth knowing ahead of the game:

Last Meeting

5ad883ded39b870d23000001.jpg

Wayne Rooney's goal for the Toffees proved to be the different at St.James' Park as Everton recorded their first away win of the campaign.

The boyhood Blue's 27th-minute strike on 13th December saw the Magpies continue to struggle in the bottom three, and gave Everton's long suffering away contingent something to cheer on a chilly winter day.

Everton also secured a 3-0 victory over Newcastle in last season's encounter at Goodison Park, as Aaron Lennon and two Ross Barkley penalties sealed a deserved win for then manager Ronald Koeman.

Form

5ad883c2c46122a7d2000054.jpg

The hosts head into Monday's contest on the back of three games without a win, and only three triumphs in the last eight.

Successive draws against Liverpool and Swansea followed a 3-1 humbling to Premier League champions Manchester City, but back-to-back wins were secured before that trio against Brighton and Stoke - only the third time that's happened in the top flight for the Toffees this term.

Newcastle, meanwhile, are really good nick. Rafael Benitez's men have only lost one of the last nine in all competitions and their form in the league is only bettered in 2018 by the current top four and Burnley.

With four wins on the bounce lifting them into the top half, Newcastle will want to make it five in a row against the Blues.

Team News

5ad8839da91e6b00f2000026.jpg

Everton cannot call upon an injured quintet for this encounter, with Gylfi Sigurdsson, James McCarthy, Maarten Stekelenburg, Eliaquim Mangala and Mason Holgate all long-term abentees.

Everybody else is fit, however, for Allardyce to choose from as he looks to find a team that can get his side back to winning ways.

Benitez, by contrast, has every single player available for selection and may plump for the same team that secured a shock 2-1 win over Arsenal last time out.

Predicted Everton Lineup: Pickford, Coleman, Keane, Jagielka, Baines; Gueye, Schneiderlin; Walcott, Rooney, Bolasie; Tosun.

Predicted Newcastle Lineup: Dubravka; Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Dummett; Ritchie, Shelvey, Diame, Kenedy; Perez, Gayle.

Prediction

5ad88379d39b87c8f5000013.jpg

With four wins and two draws on home soil in the last seven, Everton have made Goodison something of a tough place to come since Allardyce's appointment.

The Toffees have only lost one of the last 10 meetings with Newcastle too, but they will have to be wary of a confident Magpies outfit who have five wins out of the last seven.

With eighth place up for grabs in the standings, both clubs will want to snap up all three points in the final month of the season.

Despite Newcastle being more in form, we suspect Everton might just sneak this one due to the former's away form of only four points accrued out of the last 15 though.

Prediction: Everton 2-1 Newcastle