Some Newcastle fans have accused Eddie Howe of being too loyal to certain players in his squad. The head coach has refuted these allegations stating, "I'll always pick players that I think will give us the best chance to win the next game."

Listen below for injury updates, John Anderson's predicted line-up and Howe's full response to questions around his "favouritism":

Tom McCoy
BBC Sport journalist

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Nottingham Forest's Premier League goals tally of 26 goals this season is the second lowest in the top flight, with only Wolves having netted fewer.

Chris Wood led the line effectively last term, hitting 20 Premier League goals, but has not played since October because of a knee injury.

Forest have therefore turned to Igor Jesus, who joined from Botafogo last summer for £10m. While the 25-year-old is his side's top scorer this season he has struggled to make an impact when it matters most.

Ten of his 12 goals have come in cup competitions, where he has demonstrated elite finishing, scoring with 35.7% of his shots and outperforming his expected goals figure by more than four.

But it has been a very different story in the Premier League. While he has attempted 50 shots, only 10 have been on target and just two have resulted in goals – a paltry shot conversion rate of 4%.

Former Newcastle defender John Anderson says he sympathises with Yoane Wissa with the striker struggling for form since joining the Magpies.

In response to being asked about some fans already writing Wissa off, Anderson says he feels for the DR Congo international following a lack of preseason, a rare injury and being unable to get up to speed as a result.

Anderson added, "his best is most definitely yet to come."

Rob Green
Former West Ham goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live

Vitor Pereira's new manager bounce hasn't happened for him. And you look at Nottingham Forest and we talk about West Ham below them and all of these teams play at the same time and it's great because you don't see it much in the Premier League now.

You're feeling now we're looking at showdown stuff. Games where people are eyeballing each other.

Forest have it all to do against Manchester City.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Manchester United reporter at St James' Park

It is exactly 30 years ago tonight that Eric Cantona struck the decisive goal in a 1-0 win here that went a long way towards Manchester United pipping Newcastle for that season's Premier League title.

It was a memorable game, one that Newcastle dominated, only to find Peter Schmeichel is outstanding form.

Neither side are near that level these days, although Manchester United have improved markedly under boyhood Newcastle fan Michael Carrick, who has won six and drawn one of his seven games in charge.

With Liverpool losing at bottom club Wolves last night and Aston Villa hosting Chelsea, victory here would put Manchester United in prime position to secure a return to the Champions League next season.

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16-year-old Max Dowman returns to the Arsenal squad after missing the last few months with an ankle injury.

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After picking up three wins in four games between January and February, West Ham have hit a minor blip.

The Hammers are winless in their past three games, though they did earn draws against Manchester United and Bournemouth before losing 5-2 to Liverpool on Saturday.

Nuno Espirito Santo has made his side tough to beat, but they simply need to win more games. With 10 games left to play, they are 18th in the table and two points adrift of safety.

Victory at Craven Cottage tonight would put pressure on the sides immediately above them - Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport Chelsea reporter

Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is not injured and has been left out for no2 option Filip Jorgensen.

It's impossible not to link the situation to Sanchez's performance at Arsenal on Sunday, where his kicking put Chelsea under pressure early on, and lost the flight of the ball for the second goal at the Emirates Stadium.

Jorgensen is a capable back up but had a bad game when coming in at Villa Park last season, costing Chelsea with a mistake in the 90th minute as Marco Asensio won the game late.

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Manchester City are looking for a seventh consecutive win in all competitions to keep up the pressure on Premier League leaders Arsenal.

Pep Guardiola's side began 2026 with four draws, one defeat and one win, but since then have developed a knack for grinding out results and surviving pressure.

After beating Leeds 1-0 on Saturday - City's fourth consecutive league win, three of which have been by a one-goal margin - Guardiola hailed the result as a "huge victory", and praised his team's "incredible focus."

39% of City’s Premier League wins this season have been by one goal (7/18). It’s their highest proportion of wins by a single goal since 2012-13 (52% - 12/23).

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Nottingham Forest have not enjoyed the 'new manager bounce' they would have hoped for after hiring Vitor Pereira last month.

Pereira - Forest's fourth manager of the season - enjoyed a perfect start with a 3-0 win away at Fenerbahce in the first leg of their Uefa Europa League play-off round tie.

However, after that Forest lost 2-1 at home to the Turkish side and were beaten by Liverpool and Brighton in the Premier League.

Pereira's side are 17th in the Premier League table, two points above the relegation zone and two points below 16th-place Tottenham.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Sports News Reporter

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Michael Carrick has enjoyed a phenomenal start to his second stint in charge of Manchester United, racking up six wins and a draw from his first seven games.

At some stage, he knows there is bound to be a defeat or a 'blip'.

The key is to make sure it does not become an extended sequence of negative results.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer started his time in charge of United in 2018-19 with eight successive wins. He ended the same season with eight defeats in 12 matches.

When Carrick took over at Middlesbrough in 2022, he won 15 of his first 21 games. He ended in with two wins in 10 as Boro crashed out at the play-off semi-final stage.

It is the kind of form reversal United need to avoid as they chase a spot in next season's Champions League, especially as, after Wednesday's trip to Newcastle, they have a home game against fellow European qualification hopefuls Aston Villa, and also have matches against Chelsea and Liverpool to come.

The form of champions?

Arsenal have won four and drawn two of their last six games in the Premier League.

Will they make it three wins on the spin?

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Manchester City have won four of their past five Premier League matches against Nottingham Forest (one defeat), winning 2-1 earlier this season at the City Ground.

Since returning to the Premier League in 2022-23, Forest have lost all three of their away Premier League games against City without scoring, conceding 11 times.

They are winless in eight away top-flight visits (three draws and five defeats) since a 3-0 win in November 1989.

It's eight points from the last possible 15 for Chelsea as they look to land a Champions League spot.

Chelsea picked up their ninth red card of the season in the loss to Arsenal, with Pedro Neto picking up two silly bookings.

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Fulham are looking to win a third Premier League match in a row against relegation-threatened West Ham.

The Cottagers' hopes of playing European football next season looked to be fading fast after three consecutive league defeats in February, but impressive wins away to Sunderland and at home against Tottenham have put them back in the picture.

Marco Silva's side are 10th in the table with 40 points, four points behind Brentford in seventh and five points off Chelsea in sixth.

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer at The Amex Stadium

Brighton have left experienced pair James Milner and Danny Welbeck on the bench as Fabian Hurzeler makes three changes from the side that beat Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

Carlos Baleba comes in for Milner in midfield, while Georginio Rutter plays up front instead of Welbeck. Olivier Boscagli replaced Lewis Dunk in defence, with the latter nursing a knee injury.

Brighton XI: Verbruggen, Van Hecke, Rutter, Hinshelwood, Baleba, Boscagli, Mitoma, Kadioglu, Gomez, Wieffer, Gross.

Subs: Steele, Minteh, Welbeck, Milner, Ayari, De Cuyper, O'Riley, Veltman, Howell

Arsenal will be without key defender William Saliba, who has an ankle knock, with Cristhian Mosquera coming in. There is a change in attack as Gabriel Martinelli replaces Leandro Trossard.Declan Rice picked up a knock in the win against Chelsea on Sunday, but he is fit to start.

Arsenal XI: Raya, Timber, Mosquera, Gabriel, Hincapie, Rice, Zubimendi, Eze, Saka, Gyokeres, Martinelli

Subs: Kepa, Jesus, Norgaard, Trossard, Madueke, Havertz, Calafiori, Lewis-Skelly, Dowman

BBC Radio 5 Live

Don't forget, BBC Radio 5 Live has live commentaries of all five of tonight's Premier League games.

Click the 'Watch & Listen' tab above and select the match you're after.

Ooooh, big call from Liam Rosenior to drop Robert Sanchez after his mistake against Arsenal.

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport Chelsea reporter

Aston Villa make three changes from the side that suffered a shock defeat away at Wolves on Friday night.

Jadon Sancho, Lucas Digne and Pau Torres drop out, with Leon Bailey, Ian Maatsen and Tyrone Mings coming in.

It is not just Sancho who could face his former club from the bench — Tammy Abraham is also among the substitutes at Villa Park.

Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Mings, Maatsen; Onana, Luiz; Bailey, Buendia, Rogers; Watkins.

Subs: Bizot, Digne, Torres, Bogarde, Barkley, Sancho, Abraham, Alysson.

Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior leaves out goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, with No.2 Filip Jorgensen replacing him.

The decision follows criticism of Sanchez’s performance against Arsenal on Sunday. Wesley Fofana returns from suspension to replace Mamadou Sarr, while Pedro Neto is unavailable after earning the Blues’ ninth red card of the season.

Alejandro Garnacho comes in on the wing, and Malo Gusto replaces Andrey Santos. Marc Cucurella is only fit enough for the bench after a month out.

Chelsea XI: Jorgensen; James, Fofana, Chalobah, Hato; Caicedo, James; Palmer, Fernandez, Garnacho; Joao Pedro.

Subs: Sanchez, Badiashile, Sarr, Tosin, Cucurella, Santos, Lavia, Delap, Guiu.

Shamoon Hafez
Football news reporter at Etihad Stadium

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Manchester City make two changes to the side that edged past Leeds United on Saturday and there is a significant return to the starting XI.

Star striker Erling Haaland has recovered from the knock that kept him out of the trip to Elland Road, replacing Omar Marmoush who drops to the bench.

Nico O'Reilly suffered an ankle issue against Leeds and it appears he has not recovered in time for this game, being replaced by Phil Foden.

Man City XI: Donnarumma, Nunes, Dias, Guehi, Ait-Nouri, Rodri, Silva, Foden, Semenyo, Cherki, Haaland.

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Nottingham Forest also make two changes following their defeat by Brighton last time out.

Nico Dominguez and Jair Cunha come in for Vitor Pereira's side, replacing Omari Hutchinson and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Nottingham Forest XI: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Cunha, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Dominguez, Gibbs-White, Jesus.