Chris Sutton labels Newcastle 'the new Chelsea' in his weekend score prediction - He wasn't being complimentary

Fulham host Newcastle United at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon with both sides looking to bounce back after disappointing midweek results.

Newcastle dropped points late on against Everton after gifting Sean Dyche's men a penalty while Fulham were dismantled by Nottingham Forest.

Neither side can boast a decent run of form this season with inconsistency being a theme for both clubs, which makes this game a tough one to call.

Newcastle will be hoping to replicate last season's heroics at the Cottage when they ran away 4-1 winners in the game that started off Miguel Almiron's very own Goal of the Month competition.

Once upon a time being compared to Chelsea would have been a good thing

Chris Sutton wasn't particularly kind to Newcastle in his score prediction for this one as he backed a home win for his column on the BBC website.

"Newcastle's inconsistency means they are turning into the new Chelsea - which is not a good thing for them, or for the sake of my predictions.

"Fulham have been up and down as well, but they are usually more reliable at home and the Magpies squad is still stretched by injuries and some of their players appear to be running on empty.

"Compared to last season, Newcastle's defensive record is significantly worse this time - they conceded 33 goals in 38 games in 2022-23 but have already shipped 52 in 30 matches so far in this campaign.

"A lot of that is down to the fact their regular back five from last season, defenders Kieran Trippier, Dan Burn, Fabian Shar and Sven Botman plus their goalkeeper Nick Pope, have missed so many games this time.

"Those five players all started at least 35 league games last season, but there has been nothing like the same continuity in recent months.

"That's a major reason why teams have been able to get at them, and I am expecting Fulham to do the same on Saturday.

"Sutton's prediction: 2-1"

Newcastle need to start a run of results with a win on Saturday

Newcastle's defensive frailties aside, we'd like to think that we've got enough going forward to cause Fulham enough problems to nick the win.

The bottom line is that Newcastle simply must put together a run of good results now with only eight games to go.

Eddie Howe has his side within touching distance of European qualification, which, given the way this season has unfolded, is an amazing achievement in itself, but if we were to go on and grab it, it would silence a lot of critics.