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Newcastle and stoke meet in a 3pm kick off in the Premier League on Saturday at The Sports Direct Arena.
Newcastle are all but assured European football next season after Liverpool beat Everton in the cup, which means the team that finishes in sixth position will be playing in the Europa League.
However Alan Pardew will not let his side settle for this, he will be doing all he can to bring Champions League football back to Newcastle, with the form they are in it is a real possibility.
The Magpies are level on points with fourth placed Tottenham, considering Spurs have won just one game in eight in the Premier League and Newcastle have won five in a row you would be expecting Pardew’s men to take it right to the wire.
As good as their front line has been with Papiss Cisse scoring eight goals in five games, its Newcastle’s defence line that have really impressed. Tim Krul and his defence have not conceding three matches.
As for Stoke, it has been a long season for Tony Pulis and his side with competing in the Europa League earlier in the campaign.
Stoke sit 14th in the league at the moment but are just one point of Sunderland in ninth so a top ten finish is something Pulis will be desperate for.
The Potters have one just one game in six across all competitions, so manager Pulis will be wanting his side to return to form and finish the season strongly, not only for their league position this season but also for the momentum going into the next campaign.
Peter Crouch has scored ten goals in the Premier League. Crouch will be looking for more goals between now the final fixture in May to boost his chances of a spot on the plane with England to EURO 2012.
Match Odds
Unsurprisingly Newcastle go into this game as favourites with the bookies, VC Bet are offering odds of 1.75 (3/4) on a sixth straight win for The Magpies.
Stoke have not won on the road since January, something which shows in their odds to pick up three points. 5.5 (9/2) are the odds with Betfred. A draw is available at 3.75 (11/4) with Bet365.
First Goal-Scorer
In form striker Papiss Cisse is favourite to break the dead-lock on Saturday, his odds are 5.00 (4/1) with BlueSQ.
Peter Crouch looks like being Stoke’s best chance of opening the scoring. 9/1 are the odds with Paddy Power on the Englishman scoring his eleventh of the season.
Recommended Bet
Newcastle ran out 3-1 winners earlier in the season, a recommended bet is this score line to happen again with odds of 15.00 (14/1) with William Hill.
