With their closests rivals West Bromich not playing until Christmas, this sets up perfectly for the Magpies to open up a ten point cushion over the chasing pack over the Festive period. Newcastle have been brilliant in the first half of the campaign but there is some sort of disappointment after they conceded a sloppy 87th minute equaliser against Barnsley last weekend. The draw was a minor setback though as the Geordies have won seven of their previous matches in the second tier. Middlesbrough may have had a change of personnel in recent weeks,but Gordon Strachan certainly have not produced the rsults on the pitch yet.

Middlesbrough lost to to Cardiff City at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday to further dampen the mood of the camp, which have seen them picked up only one win over their last eight matches in the league. Newcastle United will have their key player Guthrie back for this derby match but striker Carroll will miss out due to suspension. The visitors will have to reshuffle their backline after several injury concerns and judging that Newcastle have only conceded four goals in eight matches, the home side will most likely be the happier of the two after tea time today.

Pick:: Newcastle -1 @2.5