As has been the case since appointing Eddie Howe as manager, Newcastle have again proven to be a tough nut to crack at St James’ Park this season. The Magpies have triumphed in 12 of their 18 Premier League home games this term, including each of their last six.

Across that six-game winning sequence Newcastle have defeated Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Chelsea - three teams that are all housed above Everton in the Premier League table.

While Everton have shown measured improvement since David Moyes returned to the club, they have won just three of their last 12 league games, one of which was against rock-bottom Southampton. What’s more, the Blues have tended to come up short against the leading lights, with Moyes’ four league defeats since returning to the club coming against Aston Villa, Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea.

James Garner looks a worthy contender to commit at least one foul on Sunday afternoon. The Everton midfielder has been a regular on the referee’s radar during the second-half of the season, overstepping the mark once or more in 10 of his previous 12 top-flight starts for the Toffees.

What’s more, Garner was guilty of multiple offences in five of those 12 starts, not to mention he has collected 3 yellow cards in the process.

In direct opposition to Garner is likely to be Newcastle’s Bruno Guimaraes, who is drawing a shade under 3 fouls per 90 in the Premier League this season.

Given the aforementioned Bruno Guimaraes’ knack for drawing fouls from the opposition, it makes sense to back the Brazilian to be brought down twice or more on Sunday afternoon. As already mentioned, Guimaraes is earning his team just shy of three set-pieces per game in the top-flight this term.

In fact, no player has been fouled more times than the all-action Newcastle midfielder in the Premier League this season, with Guimaraes drawing multiple fouls from the opposition in 28 of his 37 top-flight appearances this term.

With Guimaraes expected to be up against James Garner and Idrissa Gueye on Sunday, there is plenty of scope for that trend to continue. The Everton midfield duo are both averaging north of 1 foul per game in the Premier League this season.

Newcastle are expected to come flying out of the traps on Sunday as they look to secure a top-five finish and a place in next season’s Champions League. As such, the home side look well worth siding with to be leading at the interval. The Magpies have gone in at the break ahead in 13 of their 18 Premier League home games this season, including six of their last seven top-flight assignments at St James’ Park.

Everton boss David Moyes tends to prefer a safety-first approach and that is likely to be employed on Sunday, at least during the early stages of the game. Moreover, Everton have fallen behind in four of their last six Premier League games away from home, two of which saw them trailing their hosts at half-time.

With a raucous St James’ Park crowd behind them, a minimum of 6 on-target efforts looks well within range for a Newcastle side that are pretty much in must-win territory on Sunday.

The Magpies have averaged just over 6 on-target efforts per 90 when operating in front of their own supporters in the Premier League this season. Eddie Howe’s side have hit the target 6 or more times in recent home games with the likes of Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Chelsea, so they look more than capable of repeating the trick against Everton.

Blues boss Moyes will likely set up to try and nullify Newcastle and playing in that manner should invite plenty of pressure from the hosts. What’s more, Everton have given up 6 or more shots on target in three of their last five top-flight tussles, including their last away day at Fulham.

Fabian Schar’s aggressive and on the front-foot defending often leads to him getting on the wrong side of the referee. The Newcastle centre-half has averaged just over 1 foul per 90 in the Premier League this season, making a minimum of one misdemeanour in 11 of his last 15 top-flight appearances.

It’s also worth noting that Schar has given away at least one free-kick in five of his last six outings at St James’ Park. On top of that, the experienced defender was guilty of one offence during this season’s reverse fixture with Everton.

Schar could find himself in the same areas of the pitch as Iliman Ndiaye on Sunday afternoon. The Everton livewire has been a foul magnet this season, drawing an average of almost 2 fouls per game in the top-flight this term.

Fresh off the back of scoring a brace against Southampton last Saturday, Iliman Ndiaye stands out to register a shot on target at St James’ Park on Sunday. No Everton player has scored more Premier League goals this season than Ndiaye (9) heading into the final weekend of the campaign.

Typically stationed on the left wing, the Everton forward is not shy at cutting inside and having a pop at goal. That is evidenced by the fact that Ndiaye has hit the target once or more in seven of the 11 Premier League matches that he has started since David Moyes returned to the Everton dugout.

It’s also worth noting that Ndiaye will likely be on penalty duty for Everton, and that only adds to the appeal of backing him to work Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope at least once at St James’ Park.