Newcastle United welcome Norwich City to St James' Park on Saturday, with the home side looking to avoid being sucked back into the relegation battle.

Norwich are currently bottom of the Premier League, 13 points adrift of Steve Bruce's side in 14th, but the Canaries did beat Newcastle handily in the reverse fixture last August.

Match preview

Newcastle come into the match in a poor run of form, taking just five points from their last six matches.

A win over Chelsea in their last match at St James' Park was a rare highlight for the club in recent weeks, with an FA Cup fourth round replay also on the horizon after they failed to beat League One side Oxford United at the weekend.

However, a win guarantees Bruce's side at least a seven-point gap to the bottom three and could see them rise as high as eighth in the Premier League table.

Newcastle's home form has been strong all season, only losing three times in front of their own crowd, while they have picked up five of their eight wins on Tyneside.

Norwich turned out victors in the reverse fixture between these sides in August, with goals from Max Aarons and a Teemu Pukki brace sealing the win, but things have been downhill since for the Canaries.

An injury crisis early on really damaged Daniel Farke's side's hopes and they have lost and drawn too many games from winning positions.

Norwich's form away from Carrow Road has been a particular cause for concern, with the club picking up just five points and one win on their travels and scoring just six goals from 12 matches.

Farke's team have picked up five points from their past six games but played well in their most recent away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

They will also hope to take confidence from their run to the fifth round of the FA Cup after they secured a 2-1 win over Burnley at the weekend.

Newcastle United Premier League form: LLLDWD
Newcastle United (all competitions): DDWWDD

Norwich City Premier League form: LDDLWL
Norwich City form (all competitions): DWLWLW

Team News

Newcastle continue to be ravaged by injury, with Jack Colback, Ki Sung-Yueng, Paul Dummett, Jetro Willems, Yoshinori Muto, Emil Krafth, Florian Lejeune, Javi Manquillo, Dwight Gayle and Jonjo Shelvey all ruled out.

Manquillo, Gayle and Shelvey are expected back next month, while Ki is also closing in on a return.

Finally, Andy Carroll is a doubt for Saturday's game because of a hip flexor problem.

Norwich will be without Ben Godfrey as he continues to serve his suspension following the red card he received against Bournemouth, while Timm Klose is once again ruled out.

There are also doubts over Ibrahim Amadou and Emiliano Buendia, but Todd Cantwell should play despite suffering a slight hamstring strain.

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Hayden, Fernandez, Lascelles, Clark, Ritchie; Almiron, S Longstaff, M Longstaff, Saint-Maximin; Joelinton

Norwich City possible starting lineup:
Krul; Aarons, Zimmermann, Hanley, Byram; Rupp, McLean; Buendia, Duda, Cantwell; Pukki

We say: Newcastle United 1-1 Norwich City

This will be a match of two clashing styles at St James' Park, with Newcastle likely to offer a physical examination of Norwich's young team. However, the away side do possess quality in the attacking areas and could manage to come away with a point.