Leeds United have gone seven unbeaten in the top-flight – their longest streak since 2001 and the best run by a newly promoted side in seven years – and now head to Tyneside, hoping to keep their momentum rolling in the New Year as they face Newcastle United at St. James’ Park.
On Sunday, the Whites earned their third consecutive draw against teams in the top half of the Premier League table, as Brenden Aaronson scored from a Pascal Struijk longball to earn a point against rivals Manchester United at Elland Road.
It has been a strong run of form for Aaronson and for Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and the pair combined brilliantly when Leeds last visited the North East, finishing off December’s Premier League Goal of the Month.
The England international has netted 7 times in his last eight matches and helped drive the Whites to two big December wins – 4-1 against Crystal Palace and 3-1 against Chelsea.
Daniel Farke’s team are currently 16th in the table after the first 20 matches and now face the side they held to a 0-0 draw at Elland Road in the third game of the season. The Magpies currently sit ninth in the Premier League, seven points above Leeds.
Newcastle struggled somewhat to open the campaign, taking just six points from their first six matches, but have since found their stride and are climbing up the table. And though they have still faced hurdles – most notably a 1-0 loss in the derby to Sunderland – Eddie Howe’s team are seven games unbeaten at St. James’ Park.
Over the years, there have been many memorable encounters between the two. Leeds and Newcastle have faced each other 101 times, with the Whites winning 39 and drawing 22 of those matches.
Most notably in recent times, United did the double over the Magpies in the 2020-21 season, dismantling the visitors 5-2 at Elland Road and then winning 2-1 in the North East thanks to goals from Raphinha and Jack Harrison.
Action from St. James’ Park gets underway at 8:15pm and you can follow all the action across leedsunited.com, as well as on LUTV.
We’ve met before:
Team news:
Ahead of the encounter on Tyneside, Farke admitted late calls will be made on whether defenders Jayden Bogle and Joe Rodon are available for selection. Daniel James remains two weeks away from first team training, with no other injury updates of note.
How to follow:
Monthly audio subscribers around the world can listen to every minute of Wednesday’s fixture LIVE on LUTV. Bryn Law will be joined by Tony Dorigo on commentary. Pre-match build up begins at 7:45pm with Nigel Martyn and Simon Grayson in the studio! The match has also been selected for television coverage in the UK by Sky Sports.
The view from inside the camp:
Speaking exclusively to Premier League Productions, Noah Okafor said: “We are in a good period. The atmosphere and the energy in the team, in the group, is really high. Every day coming in, it is fun to be together.
“We just have to play with intent, give everything. Like I said, play with confidence, don’t be afraid of something, just put everything in and then we know that we can beat any opponent in this league.
“We just take care of us and look where we have to improve and build the momentum like now and give everything.”
Read the full interview HERE.
Important supporter information:
Digital ticketing will become a mandatory requirement for all existing Premier League clubs by no later than Season 2026/27 and will be in use at tomorrow’s match.
Digital tickets can only be downloaded once. Please note, screenshots of digital tickets will not work. All supporters are encouraged to arrive early for this game with sufficient phone charge and ensure that they have downloaded their digital ticket to their Apple/ Google wallet on their smartphone before arriving at the St James’ Park.
Parking within walking distance to the stadium can be purchased HERE for £10.
Discriminatory language or chanting, including tragedy chanting, is not acceptable, and you could be breaking the law. The club condemns this behaviour and has a zero-tolerance policy towards discrimination abuse of all kinds.
Tough measures and sanctions are in place across all English football leagues to tackle dangerous and illegal behaviours within football grounds, and this involves but is not limited to, discriminatory behaviour, tragedy chanting, fans entering the pitch, the use of pyros and throwing objects.
More supporter information can be found HERE.
What has Daniel Farke said ahead of the match?
League position:
Leeds: 16th
Newcastle: 9th
Top scorer:
Leeds: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (8)
Newcastle: Bruno Guimarães & Nick Woltemade (7)
Officials
Referee: Michael Salisbury
Assistant referees: Marc Perry & Constantine Hatzidakis
Fourth official: Anthony Backhouse
Video Assistant Referee: Paul Howards
Additional Video Assistant Referee: Sian Massey-Ellis
