THE OPPOSITION

NEWCASTLE United can’t really afford to drop any more points going into the festive period, but face a resilient Leicester City outfit at St James’ Park.

Toon players looked down in the dumps as they trudged off the field at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, yet they were always going to be up against it and it’s not about to get much easier.

Leicester completed the double during United’s last stay in the Premier League and, after Claude Puel rallied the Foxes, the 2016 champions have lost just one game since he took charge.