Newcastle v Man Utd

Barclays Premier League
Venue: St James’ Park Date: Tuesday, 19 April Kick-off: 1945 BST
Coverage: Watch live on Sky Sports 1; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles

TEAM NEWS

Newcastle hope to have Shola Ameobi back in action following a knee injury, while Stephen Ireland is set for his debut, but Kevin Nolan completes a ban.

Cheik Tiote and James Perch are available after suspension, but Steve Harper has had an injection in his knee and is rated doubtful.

Manchester United welcome back Wayne Rooney and Jonny Evans from bans, but Paul Scholes begins a suspension.

Darren Fletcher remains sidelined by a virus, but could return in a fortnight.

Newcastle

Suspended: Nolan (one match)

Doubtful: Ameobi & Harper (both knee)

Injured: Ben Arfa (broken leg), Best & Smith (both ankle), Gosling (knee)

Man Utd

Suspended: Scholes (three matches)

Injured: Fletcher (virus), Hargreaves (shoulder), Lindegaard & Rafael (both knee)

MATCH PREVIEW

The Treble dream may be over, but Sir Alex Ferguson insists his Manchester United side will not be deterred in their pursuit of a record 19th league title.

Going to Newcastle is the most important game we have coming up because the league is still our first priority… So Tuesday is absolutely crucial for us and I think everybody knows when you go to Newcastle you have to deal with the atmosphere up there Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson

Saturday’s FA Cup defeat at the hands of Manchester City ended United’s hopes of emulating the class of 1999, but Ferguson and co will have taken some solace from Arsenal’s failure to beat Liverpool in the league on Sunday.

That result means the Red Devils head to St James’ Park looking to open up a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League table with just five games to go. A repeat of their 3-0 victory over the Magpies on the opening weekend of the season would certainly help to heal a wounded United.

Newcastle return to action for the first time since their 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa, a result that leaves them just six points clear of the relegation zone. Alan Pardew believes his side need just one more win from their remaining six games to assure themselves of a second season in the Premier League – a first home victory over Manchester United since 2001 would be a satisfying way to achieve that goal.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Man Utd have won 13 of their last 16 encounters with Newcastle.

• The Manchester club are unbeaten at St James’ Park since September 2001, when they lost 4-3.

• Newcastle marked their return to the Premier League with a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford back in August. Dimitar Berbatov, Darren Fletcher and Ryan Giggs were all on target for United.

Newcastle

• The Magpies have won only two of their last 12 games in league and cup.

• They have won just two of their last seven Premier League games at St James’ Park.

• Jonas Gutierrez is in line for his 100th league appearance for Newcastle, while Steven Taylor could make his 150th career league appearance.

Man Utd

• Defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday ended a seven-match unbeaten run.

• Sir Alex Ferguson’s men have only won five of their last 16 Premier League away games.

• Rio Ferdinand could make his 350th start for United.

LEADING GOALSCORERS

Newcastle

Nolan: 12 goals (12 league); Ameobi: 8 goals (5 league)

NB. Carroll scored 11 goals (11 league) for Newcastle

Man Utd

Berbatov: 22 goals (21 league);
Hernandez: 18 goals (11 league)

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Lee Probert

Assistant referees: Andy Halliday & Trevor Massey

Fourth official: Jon Moss

LAST LEAGUE MATCH LINE-UPS

Newcastle (L0-1 v Aston Villa, a): Harper, Simpson, Steven Taylor (Ryan Taylor 63), Williamson, Enrique, Barton, Guthrie, Coloccini, Gutierrez, Ranger (Kuqi 83), Lovenkrands. Subs not used: Krul, Ferguson, Donaldson, Tavernier, Richardson.

Man Utd (W2-0 v Fulham, h): Kuszczak, O’Shea, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Gibson, Scholes, Anderson (Fabio Da Silva 76), Valencia (Owen 73), Berbatov, Nani (Carrick 87). Subs not used: Van der Sar, Brown, Park, Hernandez.