'Massive': Paul Merson is expecting an 'entertaining' game as he predicts score between Newcastle United and Aston Villa
Newcastle United are back in Premier League action on Sunday at St James' Park as they take on Aston Villa in a 2 pm kick-off live on Sky Sports.
After their impressive 3-0 win over PSV last night, Newcastle will be in great spirits going into this massive home game before a tough run of fixtures on the road.
Aston Villa are in action today in the Europa League in Turkey, which means they may have a bit of travel fatigue on Sunday.
A win for Newcastle will be huge in terms of where they could potentially finish in the table this season, and a scalp like Aston Villa is exactly what we need to set us up for a tough run of fixtures ahead.
Paul Merson is banking on an entertaining game on Sunday
The magnitude of this game isn't lost on Paul Merson, who says that it could determine who finishes in the top four this season in his prediction for Sportskeeda.
"This is a massive football match in the context of the top four. I was disappointed with how Aston Villa performed against Everton last weekend. I just didn't think they would lose that game.
"Newcastle enjoyed a good win against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League. But I thought they were poor against Wolves in the Premier League last time out. Newcastle are missing something whenever they play away from home. They were so slow against Wolves and did not show the urgency they have at St James' Park.
"Villa are 10 points ahead of Newcastle at the moment. If they get a win, Newcastle won't catch them in the table. That will rule Newcastle out of the race to finish fourth and they will have to fight it out for fifth-place then.
"I'd want Yoane Wissa to start ahead of Nick Woltemade in this game. Ezri Konsa will enjoy going up against someone like Woltemade. If Wissa can make runs away from Konsa, that might trouble Villa at the back. I expect an entertaining draw.
"Prediction: Newcastle United 2-2 Aston Villa"
Sunday's game could potentially be huge for Newcastle's short-term future
We aren't convinced this one fixture at this stage of the season is going to determine which of the two sides finishes in the top four this season. There's still a long way to go, but the short-term ramifications do feel massive.
Like we've said, a win on Sunday after such an impressive win last night could really set Newcastle up for what is a truly awful set of fixtures to come.
But it is one step at a time. We\'ll deal with Aston Villa before we start having sleepless nights about the run of away games that sees us go to PSG, Liverpool and Manchester City.
