Alan Shearer breaks the streak as he predicts who will win today - Newcastle or Southampton

It's here! Game Week One of the Premier League 2024/25 season and Newcastle United kick off at 3pm on a Saturday for the season opener as Southampton come to Toon.

Today is the day that we can all put aside the frustrations of the summer, the PSR nightmare, the Marc Guehi saga and all the upheaval behind the scenes. This afternoon, none of that matters and we are all, once again, UNITED.

The Magpies couldn't really have asked for a kinder fixture to kick off the new season with a home tie against a newly promoted side.

Southampton used to be a bit of a bogey team for Newcastle back in my youth but now, with seven Newcastle wins in the last nine meetings, that is no longer the case.

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Alan Shearer went with a slightly different score to other pundits

As far as score predictions go, Paul Merson and Chris Sutton both opted for a 3-0 Newcastle win, expecting Eddie Howe's side to not waste any time getting their campaign off to a flying start.

Meanwhile, Alan Shearer has bucked the trend, every so slightly with his prediction that he gave to Betfair (via Newcastle World).

“Newcastle will want to get off to a good start at St James' Park, just like they did last season. It may've been different if it was at St Mary's but because they're at home, I'm going to say 3-1 Newcastle win."

Let's hope Newcastle's game is more entertaining than last night's fixture

Shearer is still going for a convincing win, but he is giving the club that gave him his first Premier League start a bit more credit.

Whatever happens, let's just hope it's more entertaining than last night's curtain-raiser that saw Manchester United steal three points off Fulham with a late goal. Fulham should have had the game wrapped up well before then. A proper damp squib to kick off the new campaign.

Newcastle must do better this afternoon.