Alan Shearer makes stunning prediction on how many goals he’d score in Newcastle United’s current team 

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Newcastle United have had a keen eye for goal this season.

It was business as usual on Wednesday night at St James’ Park. Eddie Howe had a plan and stuck to it beautifully.

Even if they didn’t play at their best, Newcastle convincingly beat Wolves 3-0 to move up to fourth in the Premier League table. It’s now nine consecutive wins in all competitions with 26 goals scored.

Howe can take a lot of credit for efforts to rally the troops following a rough start to the season. Although the results weren’t bad, the football being played wasn’t getting Newcastle convincing wins.

The feeling is that a tactical change which saw Sandro Tonali move into a deeper midfield role was one of the big reasons why they’ve been performing so well. Since dropping deeper, Bruno Guimaraes has bagged five assists as he gets more freedom to push forward alongside Joelinton.

Newcastle’s record scorer Alan Shearer hailed Alexander Isak as “class” for his performance against Wolves. The Swede scored a brace and bagged an assist for Anthony Gordon’s sixth goal of the season.

In a team where it looks like one man could do everything for them, Shearer has gone on record to say how many goals he feels he could score in this side.

Shearer backs himself in the current Newcastle side

Shearer scored 260 Premier League goals across two teams. 148 for Newcastle and 112 for Blackburn Rovers. Shearer is Newcastle’s record goalscorer with 206 goals in all competitions.

Talking on The Rest is Football podcast, Shearer was asked how many goals he believed he could score in the current Newcastle squad.

“I’d be confident of getting 35-40 goals in that team,” he said.

Both Gary Lineker and Micah Richards laughed at his suggestion but Shearer insisted that he would “still get 15-20 now (aged 55), I’d still get seven pens.”

Richards backed Shearer to score “a minimum” of 25 goals. Shearer responded saying that would be “a bad season for him.”

Although it may seem like an indication of how good Shearer believes he still is or his confidence. It’s a compliment to how reliable Newcastle’s playmakers have been this season.

Like Guimaraes, Gordon and Jacob Murphy have enjoyed their fair share of assists in the Premier League. They’ve had a clinical finisher to aim at. With Shearer, there wouldn’t be much difference in front of goal.

Newcastle have improved in all areas

Shearer has every right to back himself given how well Newcastle have played in their run. The Magpies aren’t just performing well in front of goal though.

Defensively, Newcastle have been solid in their last nine games – conceding just three goals. Martin Dubravka played his part in keeping that tally down during the win against Wolves. The Slovakian made seven saves including a fantastic stop in the latter stages to keep his clean sheet.

Sven Botman’s return to Newcastle’s first-team squad has also been a huge boost for Howe. The Dutchman has only conceded once in his three appearances since returning from injury.

His form gives Howe a big decision to make over Fabian Schar’s future. Schar is out of contract in the summer, but Botman has proven he can play as a right-sided defender despite his left-footedness. Putting Schar’s place in Howe’s starting XI at stake.