Newcastle United travel to London for the second consecutive week, as the in-form Magpies take on Brentford in the Premier League.
A trip to West Ham United in Newcastle's last outing saw Eddie Howe leave the London Stadium with a valuable point, with Joe Willock's first-half goal securing a 1-1 draw against the Hammers. The draw meant that Howe's side are now unbeaten in six consecutive Premier League games and sit two points clear of the relegation zone, and victory against Brentford would see the Toon move one point ahead of Saturday's opposition in the league table.
Allan Saint-Maximin was absent from the trip to West Ham with a slight calf injury, and Howe may make a late decision on the winger for Saturday, with a spot on the bench looking the most likely option.
Kieran Trippier may not play again this season for the Magpies with his injury problem, but after returning to training, Javier Manquillo looks likely to return to the squad. Ryan Fraser also came off with a muscle injury against West Ham, though the Scotsman should be fit for Saturday.
So, what line-ups will both teams select? And, what could the final score be?
We used FIFA 22 to get a score prediction for Brentford vs Newcastle on Saturday and this is what happened...
Brentford vs Newcastle score predicted by simulation
We used kick-off mode in FIFA 22, but didn't select a team to control, we then selected the teams and watched the match play out by itself, to give us a score prediction.
We predict that Brentford could set up in a 3-5-2 formation, with their line-up as follows: Raya; Ajer, Jansson, Pinnock; Canos, Baptiste, Norgaard, Janelt, Henry; Mbuemo, Toney.
We predict that Newcastle could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Dubravka; Manquillo, Schar, Burn, Targett; Shelvey, Willock, Joelinton; Fraser, Wood, Murphy.
Despite Newcastle controlling the opening stages, it was Brentford who took the lead after 20 minutes through Bryan Mbuemo.
A long ball down the left flank saw Ivan Toney pick up possession just outside the box, and his cross into the box was met by Mbuemo's darted run towards the front post.
The forward used his speed to beat Joe Willock to the ball at the near post, glancing his header past Dubravka to give the home side the lead. Brentford took their lead into half-time, but the Bees were reduced to 10-men with 40 minutes remaining when Pontus Jansson brought down Chris Wood as the last man.
The red card didn't seem to faze Brentford though, and they doubled their lead with 25 minutes to go through substitute Mathias Jensen.
The midfielder drove towards goal from midfield before dispatching the ball out to the left, and the cross came back into the box first time, but only half-cleared by Dan Burn. Toney was quickest to react as he regained possession and slipped in Jensen, and the midfielder struck a sweet finish over Dubravka and into the roof of the net.
Chris Wood managed to pull a goal back for the Magpies with 10 minutes remaining as he exploited the hole left in the Brentford defence after the sending off.
Jonjo Shelvey played an inch-perfect 40-yard through ball to Wood who had spotted an opening in the Bees back line, and the forward drilled a fantastic finish past the 'keeper and into the far corner.
Newcastle threw everything forward for the final couple of minutes as they searched for an equaliser, and it arrived from an unlikely source in the 93rd minute.
Fraser pounced on a heavy touch from Rico Henry on the right and sped towards the box, only with Wood in support.
As the Brentford defenders swarmed Wood, a late, bursting run forward from Matt Targett on the left saw the unmarked defender arrive at the back post. The Englishman controlled Fraser's cross before fizzing an effort into the top right corner, claiming a late point for Howe's side at the Brentford Community Stadium
FIFA 22 predicted final score: Brentford 2-2 Newcastle
Here are the full-time match stats.
FIFA 22 predicts that after a poor Newcastle performance which saw 10-men Brentford go 2-0 up in 70 minutes, a late bombardment of the Bees goal saw the Magpies come from behind to claim a late point.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments!
FIFA 22 is available now on all platforms, including PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PlayStation 4 (PS4), Xbox One, PC and Stadia.
