Newcastle United face West Bromwich Albion in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday night having failed to score in their last four Premier League fixtures.
While the Baggies remain top of the Championship table, Slaven Bilic watched his side fall to a surprise defeat at home to Wigan Athletic at the weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
Although Steve Bruce has talked up Newcastle's desire to have a prolonged run in this competition, the Magpies have required replays to get the better of Rochdale and Oxford United respectively.
In both of those ties, there were times when the North-East outfit were fortunate to avoid bowing out to the minnows, and Bruce may feel that his side require some more luck in the last 16.
Since a miraculous comeback against Everton on January 21, Newcastle have gone four matches without scoring a goal in the Premier League, the latest blank coming against Burnley at the weekend.
Despite some associated with Newcastle feeling that it was a point gained against in-form opponents, Bruce will be increasingly concerned that his team cannot find the back of the net.
While Joelinton constantly finds himself in the headlines regarding his form in the final third, former Baggies striker Dwight Gayle is also without a goal in his 289 minutes of top-flight football this season.
His ex-club have enjoyed an excellent campaign so far, which includes back-to-back 1-0 triumph at Charlton Athletic and West Ham United in this competition.
Bilic has managed to find the right balance regarding squad rotation thus far, but the Croatian now has decisions to make after the shock setback against Wigan on Saturday.
A six-point cushion to third-placed Fulham still exists, meaning that Bilic and his players have little reason to panic with just 11 league matches remaining this season.
Nevertheless, this will be West Brom's third game in eight days, and their manager will inevitably toy with the idea of resting players for this encounter.
West Bromwich Albion FA Cup form form: WW
West Bromwich Albion form (all competitions): WWDWWL
Newcastle United FA Cup form: DWDW
Newcastle United form (all competitions): DDWLLD
Team News
© Reuters
Fabian Schar and Florian Lejeune will each expect to be handed an opportunity after dropping down to the Newcastle replacements at the weekend.
Nabil Bentaleb and Sean Longstaff should feature in midfield, while Allan Saint-Maximin is another player in contention for a start providing that he has shaken off a minor injury.
Valentino Lazaro is likely to come back into the Newcastle team after serving a one-match ban.
West Brom are unable to call upon Callum Robinson or Kamil Grosicki, who are both cup-tied having represented Sheffield United and Hull City earlier in the competition.
Bilic may hand an opportunity to Charlie Austin in attack, while Kyle Bartley is expected to take the spot of Ahmed Hegazi.
Veteran Gareth Barry will also hope to come back into the starting lineup.
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; O'Shea, Ajayi, Bartley, Townsend; Harper, Barry, Krovinovic; Pereira, Austin, Phillips
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Dubravka; Lazaro, Lejeune, Schar, Manquillo; M.Longstaff, Bentaleb, S.Longstaff; Saint-Maximin; Almiron, Joelinton
We say: West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Newcastle United
Although both sides will most likely make alterations for this game, we expect the Magpies to edge past their hosts, potentially through a goal from Gayle who will be motivated to end his streak without a goal.
body check tags ::
