22 mins: Joselu has not scored in his last five outings and he's had a half-chance in the area snuffed out by first Mariappa, and then Christian Kabasele.

20 mins: Watford go close seconds after the restart, but Abdoulaye Doucoure, in a similar amount of space to Hughes earlier, pulls his shot just wide.

17 mins: Diame, making his first start of the league campaign, blots his copybook with an aimless pass that goes over everyone and behind the goal to end a spell of possession for the hosts.

15 mins: Jonjo Shelvey takes Miguel Britos down from behind, sliding in at pace, but it's the scissor challenge after that gets the Magpies skipper a booking from Chris Cavanagh.

Image source, Reuters

13 mins: Chances at either end - Dwight Gayle is in space on the Watford penalty spot, but the ball gets trapped under his feet. Then Richarlison breaks away and, after a lovely take-down with his head and thigh, shoots across goal from the corner of the area, with Elliot having to make sure with a save low to his left.

Image source, Reuters

11 mins: Matt Ritchie ripples the side-netting from 20 yards out, cutting in from the right before shooting with his left. One side of the ground go 'Ooooh!', but it wasn't quite that near.

10 mins: Hughes gets to the rebound on the far side form the corner and clips it in low, but Ciaran Clark blocks it, and the danger passes.

Image source, Getty Images

9 mins: Watford force another corner - they've had the better of the last few minutes.

Image source, Reuters

8 mins: We take a breather for running repairs on Florian Lejeune and Kiko Femenia, while Mo Diame looks to be limping a bit after his challenge on Femenia.

6 mins: Richarlison forces Watford's first corner off DeAndre Yedlin, and Murphy - all over the pitch at the moment - hooks it away from the six yard line under pressure from Adrian Mariappa.

4 mins: Newcastle get the first corner of the day, and as the ball comes out to Murphy on the edge of the box he tries a snap-shot, but Will Hughes charges it down. The hosts are making a decent start.

3 mins: Murphy gets down the left and threads the ball through to Joselu near the spot, but the striker's effort is poor - he swings with his left, but the ball hits his right shin and rolls away.

Image source, Reuters

1 min: Rob Elliot pumps a long kick downfield, and some of the home fans get excited as Jacob Murphy goes to ground in the area under pressure - but there's no interest from the referee.

The Hornets get the game going, kicking away from the Gallowgate End.

Right - the teams are out, Peter Beardsley can be seen watching on, and Mark Knopfler's 'Local Hero' is blasting out of the PA. All is as it should be at St James' Park, and we're all set!

Guy Mowbray
Match of the Day commentator

"Following three defeats in a row, Newcastle's stock must have fallen somewhat - a fourth wouldn't be a spur for the club's prospective buyers to up their offer to what Mike Ashley wants.

"Not that it has seemed to bother him before, but it would increase the pressure from the fans to get a deal done quickly. Successive home losses to Bournemouth and Watford wouldn't do.

"Repeated Everton bids wouldn't do for Watford to part with head coach Marco Silva either.

"They've passed up on making a quick buck in the hope of greater rewards in the (relatively!) longer term by keeping him.

"Is that it then? He's staying? He's certainly not saying."

Black Friday rumbles on into Saturday, and the club is said to be subject of a takeover bid with a £300m price tag. Take a look at Dan Roan's report from earlier this week for more details.

Image source, Reuters

Juliette Ferrington
BBC Radio 5 live at St James' Park

Wow. There’s a new black and white look to the Newcastle United Media suite. It got decked out this week. Perfect for this place.

And everybody loved Kath. Her kitchen’s looking good!

Lovely stuff.

What do you make of those lineups? We welcome thoughts and theories on everything about today's action - get in touch using #bbcfootball, or text us at 81111 (UK only)