48 mins: Newcastle are at least on the front foot, now their side is packed with attacking options. Those of a black and white persuasion may worry about where such an aggressive lineup will leave them in terms of midfield cover.

Will that mean Woltemade and Wissa play as a strike pairing? It looks that way, a straight 4-4-2 for Newcastle?

46 mins: Nick Woltemade and Anthony Elanga have replaced Joe Willock and Jacob Murphy for Newcastle. Ultra-positive changes from Eddie Howe.

We’re back under way.

We’ll start the second half coverage with a deserved bit of praise for Rico Henry, from reader Kári Tulinius

I was struck by something Rico Henry did at around the 20th minute. He chased down a ball rolling out of bounds, and that resulted in about three-four minutes of concerted pressure by Brentford. I paid attention to him for the rest of the half, and even in a side as industrious as the Bees, he’s notably selfless and hardworking. I doubt he’ll be mentioned in match reports, but he’s impressed me.

On Sky Sports, Les Ferdinand has described Dango Ouattara’s ball for Brentford’s first goal as “one of the best crosses I’ve seen all season”. And there’s a man who knew what a decent crossed looked like.

“Couldn’t envisage a worse response to our failed Worthington Cup defence,” says Newcastle fan Chris Paraskevas – he’s back in my inbox again. “Deservedly behind. And I had to wake up for this game in the middle of a heatwave, so the poor performance is magnified by the pool of sweat I’m sitting in.

“This is the EPL season on the line right here, but we are displaying the urgency of a Sunday kickabout.”

I agree with every word, Chris. Apart from calling it the ‘EPL’.

An email from Matthew Guite has arrived questioning my use of the term “neutrals”.

Who are these ‘neutrals’. My guess for this game is that 85% of those watching have a direct interest, positive or negative, in one or other of the teams... And from a Newcastle perspective its been pretty dire. And just got worse.

HT: Newcastle 1-2 Brentford.

Eddie Howe was furiously scribbling on his notepad as the half came to a close. The Newcastle manager certainly has some thinking to do during the break. His team have been outplayed for much of this game so far, with Brentford coming to the north-east with a positive gameplan – which they’ve executed to perfection so far. They’ve pressed diligently and they’ve carved out opportunities for their talented forward players. Ouattara and Lewis-Potter have particularly impressed.

Newcastle’s confidence at St James’s Park looks very brittle at the moment. They’re going to need to rouse themselves for a second half comeback.

Brentford’s away fans are loudly singing Thiago’s name. He’s cool, calm and collected, that man. That goal prompted huge fist pump from Keith Andrews and a hug between manager and goalscorer.

Murphy doesn’t really stick his arm out. It doesn’t seem an unnatural position. VAR has had a long hard look … and stayed with the on-field call. It’s probably justice after that earlier Brentford penalty shout was waved way.

Penalty to Brentford! Ouattara took too long when given loads of space in the Newcastle box, opting to square it to Jensen instead. It’s alleged that Jacob Murphy handled the ball from Jensen’s shot.

VAR is looking. Tricky one, this. I’m really not sure.

43 mins: Newcastle really haven’t got Bruno Guimarães on the ball enough, so far. Maybe the Brazilian is still working his was back to match fitness, or maybe Brentford’s waspish disruptors have successfully denied the home side their talisman.

Either way Howe must work out how to get Guimarães into the game.

Lewis-Potter whacked it at the wall himself. Speculative was the word.

40 mins: Lewis-Potter proves himself a menace once more, skipping through the middle and winning his side a free-kick. This is some 30 yards from goal, but maybe someone will fancy a speculative hit …

39 mins: This has been a fun half of football to watch, from a neutral’s perspective.

Dango Ouattara take a bow. What a cross. Janelt’s header wasn’t the cleanest, but it was directed down and far enough away from Nick Pope to leave the Newcastle keeper stranded. Back to parity.

35 mins: A storming run from centre-back by Kristoffer Ajer splits the hosts and earns Brentford a corner. Can they hit back via a set-piece?

34 mins: Back come Brentford, though. They’re building their attacks a little slower now, perhaps mindful of a quickfire Newcastle second that could kill the game. A period of possession is welcome, momentarily taking the sting out of the Gallowgate noise.

32 mins: The sea change in momentum has been quite astonishing to see in the past five minutes or so. Suddenly, it’s all going Newcastle’s way and they’re pinning Brentford back.

30 mins: These Guimarães corners for Newcastle are Arsenal-esque; he’s whipping them right under the crossbar from the left.

It’s palmed out by Kelleher for Tonali but the Italian volleys over the bar.

29 mins: Somehow it’s not 2-0 to Newcastle. Janelt hacks one clear off the line as Wissa very nearly finishes a sequence that started with a driving Lewis Hall run into the box, and was followed by a cutback across the six-yard box. The hosts smell a second, for sure.

28 mins: Willock is showing the odd turn of pace down the Newcastle left, playing a sort of hybrid leftish-midfield role as Barnes drifts inside to join Wissa in attack.

26 mins: Andrews will be feeling sick as a parrot to concede a goal like that after all Brentford’s good work in the opening 20 minutes or so.

His team look undeterred, mind, pushing forward once again.

Oh no, it’s actually a pretty smart glancing header from Botman, a delicate touch after he rose highest to meet the in-swinging corner. Fair play.

That’s the lift the home side needed!

Brentford have won four of their past five away matches in all competitions. I think we’re seeing why right now. Keith Andrews has this mob superbly organised.

21 mins: Kayode skips past a couple of Newcastle bodies and links up neatly with Ouattara, collecting the return pass and nearly picking out Lewis-Potter with a fizzing low cross from the right. More Brentford pressure for Newcastle to withstand.

19 mins: A few groans and frustrated cries of ‘come on’ greet another Newcastle error in possession. Yep, the home faithful know their team need a lift here.

17 mins: Mathias Jensen is almost the beneficiary of another loose pass in the Newcastle defence. It was a tame shot in the end from the Dane, who had options either side of him but opted to try and test Nick Pope.

16 mins: Newcastle are a bit of a mess at the back, mind you. Brentford’s Dango Ouattara is causing problems charging down the visitors’ right.

15 mins: Newcastle are slowly waking up and getting back into it. A few set-pieces are coming their way – the most recent of which sees Barnes presented with a good chance, which he flicks just wide on the spin.

13 mins: Lewis-Potter has been a busy bee in these early stages, if you’ll pardon the pun. He’s nominally playing left wing but has been popping up in some interesting positions.

11 mins: Sandro Tonali somehow persuaded Trippier to step away from that free-kick and let him have a pop, I think the more experienced man will be pulling rank and taking the next one after Tonali’s effort sails into the Gallowgate.

The more replays of that early non-penalty decision I see, the more I think the officials have made a boo-boo.

9 mins: Henderson trips Lewis Hall – who impresses me every time I watch him, by the way – and Newcastle have a free-kick in a favourable spot here.

8 mins: Jordan Henderson is getting a smattering of boos from the Newcastle faithful for his Sunderland connections. It does sound a bit half-hearted though.

He’s seen a lot of the ball early on as Brentford look to build on their positive start. To say the home team look nervy would be an understatement.

6 mins: It’s been an odd start to the game. Both teams are looking to go very direct.

I don’t want to go all conspiracy theory, but I think most home teams would get that penalty. The fact you can barely hear Brentford’s modest away contingent in the big bowl of St James’s surely does make a subtle difference.

4 mins: At the other end Harvey Barnes lines up a long-ranger, trying to curl it inside the far post, but sets it out a little too far. That was travelling at some speed, mind.

On that penalty check, VAR had a long old look. It really seemed to me that Trippier tugged back Lewis-Potter. Newcastle can consider themselves fortunate.

2 mins: Anyway, the away side have started fairly positively, knocking it about until a long-ball almost finds its way through to Lewis-Potter, who believes he was dragged down trying to latch onto that one.

VAR to check it?

1 min: Brentford’s sky blue and brownish away number isn’t a million miles off Belgium’s recent Tintin-inspired change strip. Jury’s out, for me.

The players are out and we’re almost ready to go. Chris Paraskevas emails in, presumably from Australia/somewhere far away where it’s currently very early in the morning:

This might seem a little pessimistic but at the end of the day, anyone forced to wake up for Kieran Trippier’s ‘set pieces’ (loose definition) at 4:30 in the morning isn’t/couldn’t possibly be concerned with staying positive.

(He’s still predicting a 3-2 win for his team, Newcastle).

Close game in the rugby.

Newcastle still have a formidable home record this season. Before the 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa a fortnight ago, they’d not actually been toppled at St James’s Park in the Premier League since Arsenal beat them 2-1 in September. The FA Cup penalty shootout defeat to Bournemouth and the Carabao Cup shellacking by Manchester City have obviously dented the confidence somewhat, but on their home patch Eddie Howe’s side are strong.

It’s around about this time that I ask you for your score predictions – send them to me via email if you wish.

I shall also remind you that the last three games I’ve live-blogged for the Guardian have brought four goals – two 3-1 home wins and a 2-2 draw. So I’m predicting a 3-1 Newcastle win to continue the trend. Wissa would just love a goal, wouldn’t he? And it’s about time Howe’s boys got back on track at home.

With less than half an hour until kick-off please enjoy this excellent Jonathan Liew read on Newcastle’s PSR and ownership predicament.

The results in the earlier games mean Brentford can still go level on points with sixth-placed Liverpool with a win on Tyneside. Newcastle will jump into the top half if they claim the three points. Fulham and Sunderland losing will give cheer to these two teams for a few reasons.

The middle of the Premier League table is a very fluid situation this season.

The 3pm games are all coming to a conclusion – follow the latest updates with my colleague Emillia Hawkins here.

It is an almighty boost for Newcastle to have Guimarães back in their midfield. They’re just a different team without him. The only downside for Eddie Howe this evening is Anthony Gordon’s absence – the winger hasn’t recovered from a hamstring injury in time to feature.

It’ll be a particularly big night for Yoane Wissa, who is again preferred to Nick Woltemade up front for Newcastle. Wissa was injured for the Magpies’ 3-1 defeat at his former club Brentford earlier in the season.

Igor Thiago has fared pretty well as Wissa’s de facto replacement this season and the Brazilian – who has 16 goals in the league this season – will be key if the Bees are to come away with a positive result this afternoon.