The Premier League's two biggest overachievers of the season so far meet at St. James' Park on Sunday, when Fulham travel to Newcastle United.

The Magpies remain in the top four, while Marco Silva has taken his newly-promoted outfit to sixth heading into the weekend.

Match preview

Newcastle will come into this fixture riding high following their cup success in midweek, as victory over Leicester City secured a first semi-final appearance since 2005.

That brought a much-needed confidence boost after going three games without a win, including an FA Cup loss at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

Eddie Howe's side are just about clinging onto a top four spot, though, after back-to-back draws in the league.

Both games finished 0-0 though, which illustrates how even if they are misfiring in attack, they can rely on their defence to win them points.

Eleven goals conceded from 18 matches is unsurprisingly still the best record in the division, as their very settled back four have kept 10 clean sheets.

All the other sides in the top five play each other this weekend in the North London and Manchester derbies, so this is a great opportunity for Newcastle to regain some ground on those sides.

Fulham are the first side in the division to have reached the halfway mark of their respective season thanks to their rearranged game with Chelsea on Thursday.

They made the most of it too by beating their West London rivals 2-1 at Craven Cottage to leapfrog Liverpool into the top six.

Carlos Vinicius came up with the winner in Aleksandar Mitrovic's absence as Andreas Pereira produced another wonderful assist, while Bernd Leno put in another stellar performance in goal.

A magnificent run of form has seen them win every game in all competitions since the World Cup break.

They were able to make light work of Championship outfit Hull City with a heavily rotated side in among four league victories.

Silva's side may have played more games than every other side, but they are just four points off the top four.

An away win here will cut the gap between the teams to just one point, so there is a lot riding on it for both sides.

Team News

Howe went with a full-strength Newcastle side for the EFL Cup quarter-final, so they are expected to remain unchanged here.

Allan Saint-Maximin still cannot get into the side given the recent form of Miguel Almiron and Joelinton, so he is likely to start on the bench again.

They have Callum Wilson, the returning Alexander Isak and Chris Wood to choose from up front, and if Wilson is fully fit he should get the nod.

Jonjo Shelvey, Emil Krafth and Matt Targett are the injury absentees for hosts.

Mitrovic will return from suspension here against his former club, and despite Vinicius's winner against Chelsea, the Serbian should come back into the starting XI.

Antonee Robinson picked up his fifth booking of the season on Thursday, so the left-back will be banned.

Paris Saint-Germain-loanee Layvin Kurzawa is the obvious like-for-like replacement for the American international in defence.

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; S Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Willock; Almiron, Wilson, Joelinton

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Leno; Tete, Adarabioyo, Ream, Kurzawa; Palhinha, Reed, Decordova-Reid, Andreas Pereira, Willian; Mitrovic

We say: Newcastle United 2-1 Fulham

In a very intriguing clash, Newcastle's home advantage may help them over the line against a Fulham side in top form.

A 4-1 defeat at Craven Cottage in the reverse fixture means Fulham will be keen to exact revenge on the hosts, but the defensive strength of Newcastle may be key.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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