Newcastle United will look to extend their brilliant winning run and boost their chances of securing an eighth place finish at the end of the Premier League season when they face Everton at Goodison Park on Monday night.

The Magpies were in real trouble of being involved in a relegation battle just a few weeks ago, but four successive top flight victories have seen them surpass the magic 40-point mark that will guarantee their spot at this level for at least another year, and they can now start looking up the table rather than over their shoulders.

The last of those victories came as they beat Arsenal 2-1 at St James' Park last weekend, coming from 1-0 down thanks to goals from the in-form Ayoze Perez and Matt Ritchie.

Rafa Benitez's men go into the match on Merseyside in 10th position and just one point and one place behind Sam Allardyce's side, but despite the momentum they currently have it won't be a simple task to extend their victorious run.

While the Toffees have sometimes struggled on the road in 2018, they have taken 11 points from the last 18 available on their own patch, and will be determined to finish in eighth too after what has been a hugely disappointing campaign following a big summer of spending.

Benitez has largely kept with the same XI in recent weeks seeing as there hasn't been too many reasons to change things up, but the Spaniard may feel that he needs to make some alterations at Goodison in order to help his team pick up the three points.

Here is how Newcastle must line up against Everton, ahead of Martin Dubravka in goal…

Newcastle have had a settled back five – Dubravka, Paul Dummett, Jamaal Lascelles, Florian Lejeune and DeAndre Yedlin – for a number of weeks now, and that consistency and the impressive performances by the backline are one of the reasons why the Magpies have gone on such an impressive winning run.

Considering the Tyneside outfit have only conceded twice in their last four Premier League matches, there is no reason for Benitez to change things ahead of the trip to Merseyside.

Like in defence, Benitez has stuck with a settled midfield four of Kenedy, Jonjo Shelvey, Mo Diame and Matt Ritchie during their winning run, and they once again shone in the 2-1 victory against Arsenal last weekend.

Shelvey put in a man-of-the-match performance, Ritchie scored his side's winning goal and loanee Kenedy, whom the club are confident they will sign on a permanent deal, hit the woodwork with a looped effort, with the quartet all in fine form right now.

As with the defence, Benitez should go with those four at Goodison Park, and he will be hoping they can make a similar impact in the final third.

Ayoze Perez continued his fine run of form for Newcastle with his side's opening goal in the 2-1 win against Arsenal last time out, and the Spaniard is undroppable right now having come under criticism from the St James' Park faithful for some of his displays earlier in the campaign.

Meanwhile, Dwight Gayle has been a regular starter in attack recently but Benitez should look to bring Slimani into the starting XI for this one after he had a hand in Ritchie's winning goal last weekend.

Benitez needs to take more of a look at the Algeria international in the final five fixtures to see if the Tyneside outfit should sign him on a permanent deal this summer.

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