Afternoon folks! The 3pm kickoffs are around the 70-minute mark but our focus here is on the evening match as Newcastle host West Brom in an hour's time. I'll bring you team news from St James' Park as soon as it comes through.

NEWCASTLE XI: Krul; Debuchy, Williamson, Collocini, Santon; Sissoko, Cabaye, Tiote, Gouffran; Ameobi, Remy

NEWCASTLE SUBS: Elliot, Yanga-Mbiwa, Anita, Obertan, Sammy Ameobi, Ben Arfa, Cisse

WEST BROM XI: Myhill; Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Mulumbu, Morrisson; Amalfitano, Sessegnon, Brunt; Long

WEST BROM SUBS: L Daniels, Popov, Anichebe, Berahino, Lugano, Gera, Yacob

Mathieu Debuchy returns from suspension for Newcastle at right-back and that sees Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa drop to the bench. From the defence forward it's unchanged from Alan Pardew as he continues to leave Hatem Ben Arfa and Papiss Cisse.

Steve Clarke, meanwhile, makes a trio of changes as Billy Jones, Liam Ridgewell and James Morrison come in for Goran Popov, Claudio Yacob and Stephen Reid.

REFEREE WATCH: The man in charge on Tyneside today is Phil Dowd, who last week dished out seven yellow cards as Everton and Liverpool played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the Merseyside derby.

Click here to keep on top of the 3pm scores as full-time whistles begin to blow. Arsenal are going SEVEN points clear at the top.

Click here to see the latest Premier League table ahead of this evening's game. A Newcastle win will take them up above the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United while West Brom will move into the top half if they score a maximum.

Okey doke, half an hour until kickoff so let's take a closer look at how these two sides enter the match...

As mentioned above, Newcastle have won three on the bounce against Norwich, Spurs and Chelsea. A home win over Norwich isn't that surprising but to beat both Spurs and Chelsea shows just how well Pardew's side are playing right now.

West Brom have picked up two draws and a win from their last three games, seeing off Palace before an impressive draw at Palace was followed by a 2-2 draw at home to Villa. The last result will have really hurt against their Midlands rivals as they were leading 2-0 before Villa came back.

LAST TIME OUT! When these two last met it finished as a 1-1 draw at The Hawthorns. Last time at St James' Newcastle edged it 2-1 with goals from Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse.

A few stats on today's game... West Brom have won just won of seven away Premier League games at Newcastle. We're expecting goals as the last seven encounters have seen 29 goals. That's just over four a game!

PREDICTION TIME! Ten minutes separates us from kickoff at St James'. I can't look past Newcastle and their great form and am going for a 3-1 home victory. Remy to score two.

An interesting choice of pre-match entertainment in the North-East as the crowd get to see the Harlem Globetrotters!

Look at the benches of the two sides, both have impressive players to bring on. Newcastle have the likes of Ben Arfa and Cisse while hot prospect Saido Berahino, veteran Nicolas Anelka and Victor Anichebe could all provide threat for the Baggies.

Here come the two sides out of the tunnel. Newcastle in their famous black and white while West Brom's away kit is all-red.

KICKOFF! The Baggies get us underway. Evening games at St James' always have great atmospheres and the crowd are in full voice.

Former Sunderland man Stephane Sessegnon is getting a hostile reception from the Magpies' fans early on.

Collocini brings down Sessegnon and West Brom have a free kick about 35 yards out. Pretty central. Brunt can hit them...

SAVE! Brunt takes it on and puts a tremendous amount of bend on the ball. The shot was actually going wide but Krul played it safe by tipping around the post.

The resulting corner almost brings a goal as McAuley gets up to loop it back across goal where Krul drops the ball under pressure from Long. Sessegnon's shot is blocked before Tiote hacks clear.

McAuley stayed down after colliding when challenging for the ball but he's OK to carry on. This start will please Baggies boss Clarke.

West Brom have had a mightily impressive 77% possession in the early stages. Very rare away from home.

Summer signing Diego Lugano is warming up on the sideline with McAuley still looking a little shaky from that collision minutes ago.

Long scored a fabulous goal on Monday night by bringing down a high ball and he's almost done a similar thing to get in a cross but he overruns it by inches.

After 11 minutes the whole stadium stands for a minute's applause in memory of Gary Speed, who passed away just over two years ago.

Cabaye tries his luck for the first time today with an effort from 25 yards that, if it had gone in, would have been similar to the goal he scored against Liverpool earlier this season. This time he drags it slightly and Myhill can simply watch it wide.

Remy sidefoots a 30-yard lob into the net but the whistle had already been blown for offside. The Frenchman is Newcastle's biggest goal threat having scored eight goals in his last eight games.

Speculative effort from Brunt as the ball bounces up invitingly but he's 35 yards out on the left and bobbles it well wide.

CLOSE! Newcastle threaten for the first time as Sissoko bullishly runs down the right before cutting back for Debuchy to cross. Remy is unmarked in the middle but he misses and the ball hits McAuley who flashes a header just wide of his own goal.

From the resulting corner the Magpies again look dangerous as West Brom fail to properly clear their lines. That's just the spark they needed after a lacklustre star.

Sissoko with a Yaya Toure-style burst forward from midfield. He slips it through to Ameobi who skips past one man before dribbling a backpass for Myhill to pick up.

YELLOW! Chris Brunt is the first name jotted down by Mr Dowd in his little book for a tug on Sissoko.

Sessegnon almost gets on the end of a long ball forward but Newcastle are able to get back and clear.

YELLOW! Tiote isn't afraid to get stuck in and he's cautioned for persistent fouling.

It's a scrappy goal but the hosts won't care one bit as Gouffran climbs highest to nod home after Myhill had punched Cabaye's corner straight up in the air.

West Brom may have started well in the first 10 minutes but since then if you had to pick a side who'd looked more threatening it would be Newcastle.

Brief break in play as Tiote trudges off. He doesn't look that injured and will continue though.

Here's a shot from earlier in the half of Santon and Long battling for possession:

A moment after four minutes of time were added on, Cabaye reverses the ball deliciously into Remy and it looks like the Frenchman will run through on goal until he falls under the challenge of Olsson. Dowd isn't convinced and shakes his head but replays show that the Swede did tug the Frenchman. Not sure there was enough contact to go down though.

Brunt had a late free-kick chance and went for goal instead of crossing. Unlike earlier, he couldn't test Krul and blazed over. Dowd blows up straight away and that's the first half all done.

Just joining us and want a quick summary of the first half? We have a half-time report live on site already for you here.

YOAN'S THE MAN! Gouffran celebrates his close-range header that sees the Magpies one up:

Despite having 77% possession in the early stages, West Brom have dipped to 40% as Newcastle started to take control. The hosts have had 8 shots to the Baggies' three and also got three of those on target, with West Brom yet to shoot on goal.

Remember, as things stand Newcastle are going FIFTH in the table! This would be their fourth-straight win.

KICKOFF! The Magpies get the second period off and running.

CHANCE! Ameobi wins the initial flick-on before the ball breaks back to him and he plays in Remy, who tries to round Myhill but makes a mess of it.

Brunt has already been booked and is late on Cabaye but is just given a talking to. Next poor challenge and he'll be off.

West Brom break through long but he overhits his pass to Amalfitano who can only chip his cross aimlessly to the back post where no-one's waiting.

Out of nowhere, the Baggies are level! Amalfitano's cross from the right is faintly flicked by Long to the back post where Brunt takes one touch before lashing into the roof of the net with that powerful left boot of his.

CHANCE! West Brom almost complete a rapid turnaround as Amalfitano's out-swinging corner is met by Olsson, whose header wide is missed by Long.

WHAT A HIT SON! Sissoko hasn't been in the same form that he was last season but what a strike this is. Remy nods the ball into his path and the Frenchman wastes no time in smacking at goal. Myhill has no chance as the ball swerves away from his dive into the top corner. Smashing goal.

West Brom look to equalise straight away but Mulumbu can't get off a good shot from the edge of the area.

SHOT! Ameobi wins another header and the ball drops to Remy who unleashes a tough volley that zips a yard or so over the top.

There hasn't been a substitution from either manager as yet but surely one is coming? Clarke must be thinking about bringing on a striker. Berahino? Anelka? Anichebe?

Brunt's goal remains the only shot that West Brom have had on target as we enter the final quarter of the match.

Little has happened on the pitch in the last five minutes. Newcastle look assured enough as West Brom fail to maintain possession for long enough to threaten.

HUGE shout for handball as Jones leant towards a back-post cross but it hit his shoulder. Good call from Dowd despite the numerous appeals.

Olsson curves the ball over the top for Brunt, who has broken the offside trap down the left. Instead of looking for a teammate in the middle, the goalscorer swings his foot at it and slices horribly high and wide. Very poor.

SAVE! Brunt cheaply gives the ball away near his own area and Debuchy hits the bouncing ball straight away. It's a great hit from the Frenchman but straight at Myhill, who holds extremely well despite the venom in the volley.

WEST BROM SUBS: Clarke makes a double change that sees two strikers on for two midfielders. Berahino and Anichebe on, Brunt and Sessegnon off.

Anichebe could be a wise move by Clarke as he has scored in his last two Premier League matches against Newcastle.

Cabaye brings down Mulumbu in a great position for a Brunt free kick. Oh wait, he's just gone off. Who will take it?

Berahino takes charge but he can only swat it against the wall. Ten minutes left at St James'.

NEWCASTLE SUB: Pardew makes his first sub and it's certainly a defensive one as top scorer Remy is taken off for midfielder Vurnon Anita.

An encouraging stat for Newcastle: They haven't conceded a goal in the last five minutes this season. Can West Brom break the mould?

Here's a cracking shot of Sissoko firing the hosts back in front:

WEST BROM SUB: Amalfitano sees his evening come to an end as Gera takes his place for the final few minutes.

YELLOW! Mulumbu has his name taken for cynically bringing down Cabaye, who was looking to start a Newcastle counter.

FOUR minutes of time for West Brom to snatch a leveller. They don't look like doing so at the moment.

JUST WIDE! Goodness me, almost a nightmare for Williamson as he dives in to head clear but almost heads it into his own net.

Newcastle should have a penalty, for me. They break through Sissoko, who cuts back for Cabaye and his shot goalwards is clearly blocked by the elbow of Jones. There wasn't much space between the two but his arm was well away from his body.

A mightily impressive November for Newcastle as they win all four games in the 11th month, rounding it off with a hard-fought 2-1 win over West Brom to go FIFTH in the table!

When you click this link Newcastle fans what you see is not a mirage. You really are fifth in the table. Pardew a shoo-in for Manager of the Month right?

Anyway, that's all we've got time for on this commentary this evening. Thanks for joining us on Sports Mole. Make sure you stick around for reaction and analysis from the North-East.