Newcastle United face West Bromwich Albion at St. James' Park on Saturday in a game fans will be able to watch live on SKY at 3pm due to the success of the #CharityNotPPV movement instigated by Geordies fans which saw the Premier League's controversial Pay Per View scheme scrapped following united fan pressure.

Its the first game Steve Bruce's men play following the 2-0 win at Crystal Palace back in late November after an outbreak of Corona Virus at the club saw last weekend's match at Aston Villa called off and Newcastle will be hoping to secure back-to-back wins in the Premier League for the first time this season.

Steve Bruce praised the medical staff at the club and training ground for navigating he and his staff & squad through a "difficult" period and revealed he had one or two staff who are "very poorly" with Corona Virus whom he wished "a speedy recovery" and a "chunk" of players suffering from fatigue having had it & the rest will hopefully be OK:

‘If you’d asked me last Monday, I wouldn’t think this game would have been on,’ he said. ‘But everyone has been tested twice since Monday and proved negative.
‘We’ve been able to train properly and been back to normal for a few days now. I’ve got enough to pick 11 and hopefully win us the match.
"We've got enough to be competitive in the game that's for sure and.we've done everything we can to get the game on"

Having seen first hand how quickly the virus spread through the Newcastle squad and staff despite protocols being followed, Bruce advised everyone to take the corona virus very seriously & to "Stay safe and well."

West Brom manager Slaven Bilic had this to say about Covid affecting football:

“They (NUFC & PL) don’t have any doubts. They wouldn’t risk the safety of the players if there was any doubt. It’s not good for Newcastle, but we had 8 players with Covid recently & coped. We don’t expect those who are unfit to start.”
"This is serious football and the Premier League would not allow any sort of those things to happen - they wouldn't risk the health of the players. And Newcastle wouldn't do it."

Newcastle have beaten The Baggies, who are newly promoted to the top flight, in 2020 knocking them out of The FA Cup 5th Round in impressive fashion at The Hawthorns in March racing into a 3-0 half-time lead with a scintillating attacking performance from a front line of Miguel Almiron, Joelinton & Allan St. Maximin before being pegged back and Bruce will be hoping for more of the same on Saturday.

Newcastle actually moved up a place temporarily last Saturday on goal difference despite not playing after Leeds succumbed to a 3-1 defeat at Chelsea yet stand 13th in The Premier League going into Gameweek 12 and wins against West Brom and Fulham can be a springboard to a successful December period of 6 games in 18 days including that Carabao Cup Quarter-Final at Brentford.

West Bromwich Albion are without their Brazilian star man and playmaker Matheus Pereira after he was sent off in his side's 5-1 defeat by Crystal Palace last weekend:

while Newcastle's rejuvenated Brazilian Joelinton paid tribute to renowned man manager Steve Bruce for having faith in him saying:

"He’s been talking to me since we arrived at the club and he’s a great person. He gives me a lot of confidence, as well as everyone in the squad, and that makes us stronger,"
"Our intention is to go as far as possible, but we know the difficulties of the Premier League,"
"I think we have to think game by game, with each victory, so that we can walk a good path in the competition and, in the end, pinch a spot in some European competition."

Joelinton had one of his best games in a Newcastle shirt at Selhurst Palace partnering Callum Wilson up front winning Man of the Match and a place in the WhoScored.com Premier League Team of the Week:

And his manager Bruce singled him out for praise in today's presser saying:

"All of the players bounced into training like kids in a sweetshop (after the Covid break)
In Joe, I'm delighted for him, ..he's tried and worked hard, dug deep at times and never shirked the responsibility so you want him to continue
I think it helps having someone like Callum up alongside side him - to play off him or to play on the side of him and not be the actual focus as the target man on the top of it."

That's a big indication Newcastle's side will feature both strikers Joelinton & Wilson, who posted a picture of him training on Instagram, and Newcastle will hopefully pick up where they left off against Palace and win the three points to propel them up the table.

Prediction - Newcastle 3 West Brom 1