Newcastle United v Watford

Newcastle's Ayoze Perez in action in Monday's defeat at West Ham

TEAM NEWS

Newcastle's Aleksandar Mitrovic serves the second of a three-match suspension following his red card against Arsenal.

Steven Taylor and Paul Dummett are unavailable due to hamstring injuries, while a knee problem will sideline midfielder Cheick Tiote.

Watford duo Valon Behrami and Miguel Britos miss out because of suspension.

New signings Adlene Guedioura, Obbi Oulare and Victor Ibarbo could make their debuts, having missed out against Swansea last weekend.

MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES

John Roder: "Even at this early stage of the season, it is tempting to describe this as a must-win match for Newcastle.

"Bottom of the table, with just two points and two goals so far, Monday's defeat at West Ham leaves Steve McClaren still searching for his first Premier League win as Newcastle boss.

"Watford gained their first victory at the expense of Swansea last weekend, but the Hornets have only managed three goals on their return to the top division. It may not be a high scoring match at St James' Park but it will certainly be a tense one."

Twitter: @johnrodercomm 

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Newcastle head coach Steve McClaren: "We have had five games – two were with 10 men. In four games, our attitude has been spot-on, some of our play, some of our battling. Then Monday.

"We are in the process of building a new team, and with new players in the Premier League, in the process of trying to change things around in a football club, and during that process, it is a little bit like a car crash.

"You know it is going to happen and you can't do anything. You just wait for it to happen."

Watford head coach Quique Sanchez Flores: "They have a a good leader, they signed a lot of new players, also they are playing at a stadium with 55,000 fans.

"Of course we want to have a good atmosphere with high pressure but it is very interesting for us because when I imagine these kinds of matches I always think about creating silence in the stands. Our target is to create the silence."

LAWRO’S PREDICTION

Watford got a great result against Swansea last week and they will set themselves up to be hard to beat at St James' Park, then look to threaten on the counter-attack.

Lawro's full predictions v England cricket star Stuart Broad

• Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round's Premier League fixtures in our Predictor game.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• Newcastle haven't lost at home to Watford in the league since August 1981 (W8, D3).
• The Magpies are unbeaten in seven matches in all competitions against the Hornets (W4, D3).

Newcastle

• Last season, Newcastle went seven matches without a win at the start of the season.
• The Magpies have failed to score in four successive league games. Only once before have they had a longer top-flight run without a goal: six games in 1988.
• Their tally of two goals in five matches is the lowest of any team in the top four divisions of English football.
• Newcastle have won just three of their 24 matches in the league in 2015 (D6, L15).
• They have only claimed one victory in eight league games at St James' Park.

Watford

• Watford's only defeat since they returned to the Premier League was away to Manchester City (W1, D3).
• They haven't won back-to-back matches in the top flight since April 1987.
• The Hornets have kept three clean sheets in their last four Premier League games.
• Odion Ighalo has scored 18 goals in 23 league appearances in 2015 – more than any other player in the top four divisions this year.