Newcastle United get another opportunity to try and improve their shoddy away form on Sunday as they travel to London to face Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham got off to a good start to life under Ange Postecoglu but now find themselves without a win in five games after West Ham came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 against their London rivals last night.
Meanwhile, Newcastle were away at Everton getting taught a lesson in the detrimental effects of fatigue on an almost comically depleted squad as they fell to another away defeat losing 3-0.
So neither side has much to boast about coming into this one which could make it a cagey affair, or Newcastle could turn on the style like they often do against Spurs and give them another pasting.
Paul Merson has made his prediction for Sportskeeda and he's not expecting a Toon revival.
“Much like the previous game, this is a hard one to call as it depends on what happens between West Ham and Tottenham. That said, I just have a feeling Ange Postecoglou’s side will nick this one.
“Newcastle have been outstanding so far, but most of their players are playing out of their skins, so I think things will catch up with them sooner or later. The Magpies have a UEFA Champions League clash against AC Milan coming up too, so they’ll have one eye on that game as they are still in with a chance of making it through to the knockout stages.
“They don’t have their destiny in their own hands, so they’ll have to secure a win against the Serie A giants and hope Borussia Dortmund do them a favour against Paris Saint-Germain, so it’ll be an interesting one to keep an eye out for.
“Spurs are on a bit of a bad run, but something tells me they’ll show up and record a narrow 2-1 win.
“Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Newcastle United”
Merse thinks our attentions will be elsewhere and that will be our undoing, and it's not a far-fetched idea, but at the same time, to suggest that Eddie Howe won't have drilled into his players the whole "the next game is the most important" ethos is also a bit insulting.
For us, this could go either way. Spurs are an opponent we always seem to show up for, regardless of who is playing.
If Newcastle go into this one with a player or two back from injury and available to at least be on the bench, that could give the Mags that boost they need to go on and put this run of poor away form into the rear-view mirror.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
13 | 18 | 34 |
2 |
Arsenal
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
13 | 12 | 25 |
4 |
Brighton
|
13 | 5 | 23 |
5 |
Manchester City
|
13 | 3 | 23 |
6 |
Nottingham Forest
|
13 | 3 | 22 |
7 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
13 | 14 | 20 |
8 |
Brentford
|
13 | 3 | 20 |
9 |
Manchester United
|
13 | 4 | 19 |
10 |
Fulham
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
11 |
Newcastle United
|
13 | 0 | 19 |
12 |
Aston Villa
|
13 | -3 | 19 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
13 | 1 | 18 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
13 | -7 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
13 | -11 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
13 | -11 | 10 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
13 | -7 | 9 |
18 |
Wolves
|
13 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
13 | -11 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
13 | -15 | 5 |