The trip to Leicester has not been a happy one for the Toon in recent history, especially since the Foxes made the move from Filbert Street to Filbert Way. Newcastle are winless out of their five trips to the ground which opened in 2002 with the last win dating back to December 1999. The first trip to Filbert Way came on Boxing Day 2003 when Darren Ambrose headed home from closing range for a last minute equaliser.

I think that this difficult fixture has come at a decent time to play after we have placed ourselves in a really good position in an attempt to make ourselves safe from relegation following the two home wins against Southampton and Huddersfield along with several other fixtures turning out in our favour. Coming up against Leicester, both home and away, the Foxes have won the last five, the first of which dating back to an FA Cup third round tie in January 2015.

Facts and Figures

All Competitions

Newcastle wins: 50

Leicester wins: 43

Draws: 27

Premier League

Newcastle wins: 10

Leicester wins: 7

Draws: 6

Premier League at Leicester

Leicester wins: 5

Draws: 4

Newcastle wins: 2

Previous ten (all competitions)

Leicester wins: 5 (13 goals)

Newcastle wins: 3 (8 goals)

Draws: 2

Biggest win

Leicester 0 - 4 Newcastle United (02/01/1909)

The year of 1909 was a very successful year for the Toon with the 1908/09 season being one of four occasions that the club has won the top flight. Our biggest win away at Leicester is, still to this day, Newcastle’s first win away at Leicester on their fifth visit to Filbert Street. As for the Foxes, it was a season which ended in relegation for the midlands club and would have to wait until 1925 for a return to the top flight.

Biggest defeats

Leicester 5 - 0 Newcastle United (09/01/1897)

Leicester 6 – 1 Newcastle United (18/01/1930)

A big question facing the fans going into the match is the question of how we will approach the game. With the two wins and clean sheets gained over Southampton and Huddersfield, we approached those matches with an attacking mentality and not resting until the game was safely won. However, I will not be expectin

g the same approach against a Leicester side who will be targeting Europa League come the end of the season and will not be in a relaxing mood. Of course, it was just over two years ago when Rafa Benitez managed his first match in charge of Newcastle against the title winning Leicester side – Shinji Okazaki scoring the only goal of the game with an excellent overhead kick.

If other results manage to go our way this weekend, it is possible that we will be back in the top half of the table after being ever-present in the bottom half since November. One advantage for us in this situation is the fact that we have the best goal difference out of all of the bottom twelve teams. If we manage to grab the three points on Saturday, we will be back in the top half if Bournemouth and Watford fail to win their matches against Crystal Palace and Burnley respectively. Away from what lies above us in the table, it would be of benefit to us if Chelsea beat West Ham on Sunday afternoon to keep the Hammers at bay as they look to strengthen their survival bid. Brighton are up against a Huddersfield side at the AMEX Stadium – one of the best home teams of the season against one of the worst away teams of the season.