Steve Bruce's Newcastle United are looking to bounce back after the disappointment of a 2-0 defeat to Man City that knocked them out of The FA Cup and two moments that will haunt Fabian Schar, who gave away a soft penalty, and Dwight Gayle, who missed a sitter when given a glorious chance to equalize.

On the day the UAE Empire struck back and all the talents of Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling, Riyad Mahrez and co were on show at St. James' Park, the financial gulf between the two sides was very much in evidence and displayed why Newcastle fans are so desperate for the Toon takeover by Saudi Arabia to be given the green light.

Ironically, if Man City are banned from The Champions League subject to their appeal against financial fair play offences and one of the Top 4 also win The FA Cup, then 8th place in The Premier League will be a qualification spot for The Europa League.

While many fans will remember how the 2012/3 Europa League campaign negatively affected Newcastle's Premier League campaign & saw The Magpies fall from the flourish of a 5th place finish in 2011/2 to the doldrums of 16th spot due to arduous battles on two fronts, a twin-pronged endeavour under a newly-monied NUFC backed by the Saudi billions could help rocket the club back into the big time.

Yesterday was the day Alan Pardew's famous 8 year contract at Newcastle would have ended after that 5th place season and Premier League Manager of the Year trophy:

As it stands, Newcastle are 14th in the Premier League table with 39 points but back-to-back wins against Bournemouth tonight and hapless West Ham on Sunday afternoon could give Bruce's men 45 points and a completely different outlook on the table.

Eddie Howe's Cherries have been beaten off Wolves and Crystal Palace since the return of English football and Project Restart and are looking a shadow of the side that has entertained the Premier League with their attractive football the last few seasons.

Newcastle came back from behind in the second half to beat Bournemouth 2-1 in November at St. James' Park with goals from Ciaran Clark and Andre Yedlin cancelling out a well-worked free-kick that Harry Wilson finished for the red and blacks.

And last season, a peach of a free-kick from Salomon Rondon gave Newcastle a first half lead and Matt Ritchie grabbed a stunning last-minute volleyed equalizer to level up two home goals from Norwegian Joshua King to nick a point at the Vitality Stadium.

Both managers are expected to make changes to their losing sides with Steve Bruce promising to "freshen" up the side that worked so hard but lost against Man City so expect a return to the 4-4-2 formation that has reaped recent dividends in the Premier League with Valentino Lazaro, Nabil Bentaleb and Joelinton potential starters:

“I think it’s only right that I freshen us up.
“I don’t want to go down to Bournemouth with them not having a game for a week and us playing four games in 11 days so I will be making some changes. Hopefully that pays off.
“The lockdown has done him [ASM] good with those niggling hamstrings he had which was always a concern when you rely on your pace like he does. He was extremely tired yesterday. Four games in 11 days, I’m going to use the squad so we’ll see how he is this afternoon.
“Matt Ritchie is touch and go. He’s desperate to play but he was nowhere near it on Friday so we’ll see how he is.
“You can’t really take a risk with soft tissue injuries because if he’s not right he could risk being out for the rest of the season.
“It’s going to be touch and go for Florian Lejeune if he’ll play any part [in the season].”

A win for Newcastle tonight and some hope remains alive for the rest of the season with the outside glimmer of European football a tantalizing prospect for the Magpies.