Following respective setbacks in their pursuits of Champions League football, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest have some mistakes to rectify in Sunday's fascinating Premier League tussle at St James' Park.

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Earning another shot at EFL Cup glory in next month's final with Liverpool and progressing to the fifth round of the FA Cup appears to have come at a cost league-wise for Newcastle, who have now come out second best in three of their last four games in the top flight.

Furthermore, the only Premier League win that Eddie Howe masterminded in that time came against basement boys Southampton, as Man City followed in Bournemouth and Fulham's footsteps by putting another dent in the Magpies' top-four aspirations.

On a day where the battle between Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak for striker supremacy was expected to dominate the headlines, Citizens new boy Omar Marmoush instead stole the spotlight with a sensational hat-trick, before James McAtee made the scoreline that bit more emphatic.

Nevertheless, the seventh-placed Magpies - who may drop down to ninth by the time Sunday's game rolls around - will at least be within touching distance of the Champions League spots with victory over Forest, against whom they will seek to snap a two-game losing home run in the Premier League.

Not since the pre-takeover days of Steve Bruce have Newcastle been defeated in three successive top-flight home matches - last suffering such a run in February 2021 - while Howe has to go back to his Bournemouth stint for the last time he oversaw an identical run of losses, all the way back in December 2019.

Sharing the same fate as their hosts against Fulham, Nottingham Forest's already-thin hopes of usurping Liverpool at the summit of the standings suffered another damaging blow at Craven Cottage, where Chris Wood's 18th goal of the top-flight campaign was in vain.

The New Zealand international's strike came either side of headers from Emile Smith Rowe and Calvin Bassey as Nuno Espirito Santo's men slumped to their second straight away loss in the Premier League, albeit one nowhere near as chastening as their 5-0 pummelling at the hands of Bournemouth.

Nevertheless, the Garibaldi's Champions League fate remains in their own hands as they occupy third place in the top-flight table and are guaranteed to still be sitting in the top four by the close of play in gameweek 26, where Santo bids to avoid a personal Forest first.

The Portuguese is yet to lose three consecutive Premier League away games as Tricky Trees manager - the visitors have not been beaten in three in a row on the road since Steve Cooper was at the helm in December 2023 - and Forest's memories of their last visit to St James' Park could hardly be fonder.

Indeed, ex-Magpies marksman Wood bagged a memorable hat-trick in a 3-1 success for Forest at St James' Park on Boxing Day 2023, but Newcastle have since prevailed in three on the spin, coming away from the City Ground with a 3-1 triumph in November 2024.

Newcastle United possible starting lineup:

Dubravka; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Tonali, Longstaff; Murphy, Isak, Gordon

Nottingham Forest possible starting lineup:

Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Danilo, Anderson; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood