Rafa Benítez’s men entertain the Hornets at St. James’ Park (3pm kick-off), with Coote set to take charge of his first Magpies fixture of the season.

The Nottinghamshire official, who was promoted to the list of Football League referees in 2010, oversaw just one United game last term – the 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion in April 2018.

In 2016/17, he refereed three fixtures involving Newcastle: defeats to Blackburn Rovers and Oxford United in the Championship and FA Cup respectively, as well as a 2-1 home league win over Wigan Athletic.

So far this season, Coote has shown 61 yellow cards and five reds across 17 games in the Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

He will be assisted by Dan Cook and Harry Leonard on Saturday, while Darren Bond will be the fourth official.

VAR will also be in use during the game against Javi Gracia’s side. Martin Atkinson has been tasked with being Saturday’s VAR, and he will be assisted by Stephen Child.