Leicester vs Newcastle: Match preview, predicted lineups, quotes, form, injuries and how to watch

When and where to watch Leicester vs Newcastle

Leicester vs Newcastle kicks off at 3pm on Monday 26 December.

You can catch all the action from Goodison Park on Amazon Prime via BT TV.

Leicester vs Newcastle preview

Newcastle are the form team in the Premier League right now - the only side to have won their last five games in the competition. 

Eddie Howe's men have even been talked about as possible title contenders by Pep Guardiola, and while winning the league is a bit of a stretch, they are third and only seven points behind Arsenal, albeit having played a game more than the Gunners, and resumed their campaign with a 1-0 win over Bournemouth courtesy of an own goal from Adam Smith. 

While Newcastle have been hugely impressive in breaking into the top four, they have achieved that feat by beating some of their fellow Champions League qualification contenders, seeing off Chelsea 1-0 at St. James' Park having taken all three points from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium the previous month. 

The astonishing improvement of Miguel Almiron has been one of the team's elements of their excellent form, with the Paraguayan scooping October's Premier League Player of the Month award and Eddie Howe picking up the managerial equivalent. 

Leicester are also in fine fettle having started the campaign disastrously, with seven defeats from their opening eight matches putting them rock bottom and heaping the pressure on Brendan Rodgers. 

Since then however, 16 points from their subsequent eight games have seen the Foxes rise to 13th heading into the World Cup. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, James Maddison has received a lot of the credit for the recent upturn in results. 

The 25-year-old has 11 goal involvements in the division this season, with only Kevin De Bruyne, Ivan Toney, Harry Kane and Erling Haaland racking up more. 

Youri Tielemans also seems back to his best, and Brendan Rodgers will be hoping that both Maddison and the Belgian remain at the King Power Stadium past January, with Newcastle reportedly interesting in signing the Englishman. 

Leicester vs Newcastle predicted lineups

Leicester (4-1-4-1): Ward; Castagne, Amartey, Faes, Thomas; Soumare; Albrighton, Tielemans, Dewsbury-Hall, Barnes; Daka. 

Newcastle (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock; Almiron, Wilson, Joelinton. 

Leicester vs Newcastle: Injuries and suspensions

Leicester's have a string of absentees, including James Maddison, who had a knee problem that restricted his World Cup involvement and may miss the chance to face the club heavily linked with him. Captain Jonny Evans is also out after a calf issue picked up earlier this month in a friendly against Troyes.

Ryan Bertrand continues to recover from a knee injury, as do Ricardo Pereira and James Justin (both Achilles), with the Portuguese full-back set to return to training in the latter half of January. 

For the visitors, Newcastle's record signing Alexander Isak is still not ready to return to the starting XI having been out since September with a hamstring injury, while Emil Krafth is out into February after suffering a cruciate ligament rupture and Paul Dummett is out with a calf issue.

Nick Pope, Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson and Bruno Guimaraes are all back from the World Cup and available for selection after playing against Bournemouth. 

Leicester vs Newcastle: Last time they met

The sides last met in April in the north-east, with Ademola Lookman putting the visitors ahead on 19 minutes, squeezing his shot under Martin Dubravka after Ayoze Perez's backheel from a short free-kick taken by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. 

January signing Bruno Guimaraes then equalised on half an hour. The Brazilian's close-range effort was blocked by Kasper Schmeichel, but the Dane was slow to gather and the Brazilian eventually managed to poke the ball between the goalkeeper's legs, with the goal being given following a VAR review to determine if there had been a foul on Schmeichel. 

The turnaround was sensationally completed deep at the death when substitute Joe Willock ran 60 yards and saw his cross deflected perfectly into the path of the arriving Guimaraes, who powered in a diving header to send the Toon Army into raptures. 

The reverse fixture was an exceptionally one-sided affair as Youri Tielemans put Leicester ahead from the spot after Jamaal Lascelles caught James Maddison. 

A cute Maddison flick released Harvey Barnes to set up Patson Daka for an easy second, and although the lead was almost halved when Timothy Castagne's backpass almost beat Schmeichel, the Foxes moved out of sight as Maddison put the ball on a plate for Tielemans' second, before the assist-maker capped a wonderful afternoon for himself and the team by firing home a brilliant left-footed finish from an angle following a one-two with Daka. 

He said what?!

Eddie Howe on the hectic schedule over the festive period:

"As a player, I loved it. I loved the festive games, I loved the atmosphere. They always had a different feeling about them than the normal programme.

"As a manager, I think your focus is different: you're not necessarily experiencing those emotions. You're feeling the preparation, the short turnaround. You're worried about fatigue with your group. 

"But I have no issue with it. I think it's part of what makes the Premier League and English football special. My only thought would be that we don't want games too close together, where players can't then execute their best performances in the next game."

Leicester vs Newcastle: Players to watch

Aside from Youri Tielemans and James Maddison, Wout Faes has been hugely effective in shoring up the leaky Leicester defence.

For Newcastle, it's hard to look past Bruno Guimaraes' influence, with the Geordie faithful barely believing that they have a player of the Brazilian's quality, despite his £40m price tag. 

Leicester vs Newcastle: Key stats

• Newcastle have won three of their last five league games at Leicester

• James Maddison has scored four times against Newcastle in eight appearances - the only team he has netted more goals against is Southampton (five)

• Youri Tielemans has scored three times against Newcastle in eight appearances - the only team he has netted more goals against is Belgian side Oostende

• This fixture has seen 24 goals in the last six games