Newcastle v Aston Villa

Newcastle United kick off, and we're back under way at St. James' Park!

45'

Substitution

Emery has sensibly decided to make a change at half-time, as Alysson had been booked. Club captain McGinn represents an upgrade for Aston Villa, and he'll now don the armband.

Newcastle have now gone 13 Premier League games without a clean sheet at St. James’ Park, which is their worst such run since December 1998 to August 1999, under the management of Ruud Gullit. Furthermore, they've only come back to win one of the last 21 league games in which they've trailed at half-time (4-3 vs Leeds in January), ultimately losing 10 of 11 since then.

On track for back-to-back Premier League wins at St. James' Park, Aston Villa lead Newcastle United 1-0 at half-time. After a gritty and disjointed first half-hour, Villa took control when Manzambi was left free to head home the opening goal from close range. That proved the impetus for a dominant spell in which they also struck the post through Buendia, and Newcastle's early ebullience was nowhere to be seen as the interval approached. Following a big setback on Monday, the hosts have underwhelmed once again, failing to produce a shot on target and producing just 0.21 xG compared to Villa's 0.87 so far. Perhaps the biggest positive for Jaissle is that his team are still within one goal, and Newcastle very rarely fail to score on home turf.

HALF-TIME: NEWCASTLE UNITED 0-1 ASTON VILLA

Instead of seeking an equaliser, Newcastle are finishing this half on the back foot. Aston Villa are dominating possession now, looking much more like the team that slayed Fenerbahce in midweek.