Paul Merson has now given his prediction for Newcastle United’s trip to Aston Villa in the Premier League later tonight.
A lot has changed since Newcastle beat Villa 5-1 at the beginning of the season and it’s safe to say that most are not expecting a similar outcome in tonight’s game.
The Villans are well in with a shot of Champions League football while Newcastle are floating around mid table in the Premier League, and Merson has predicted the home side to come out on top.
Villa looking for revenge against Newcastle
Looking back, the reverse fixture was a bit of strange game and a bit of an anomaly, especially when it comes to Aston Villa’s season so far.
While the scoreline looks like it was an absolute hammering, Villa had actually played quite well up until Tyrone Mings’ injury when things just seemed to fall apart for the away side and Newcastle were just too clinical.
Given the two clubs recent run of form, however, things have definitely swung in Villa’s favour and most would feel pretty confident in a victory for Unai Emery’s side, especially with Newcastle’s away record this season.
Villa also have the added edge of wanting to avenge that opening day defeat and Merson thinks that the home side will just have too much quality for Newcastle later tonight.
In his prediction, Merson said: “Newcastle United absolutely have to win this game if they want to have any chance of making it into the Premier League top four. If they lose, it’s completely and utterly out of the question.
“Villa, on the other hand, are a force to be reckoned with at home and will start to feel the pressure in the coming weeks as expectations are naturally increasing after their strong start to the season.
“This is a dangerous game that will test their credentials, but Newcastle will come out and play, which will play into their hands.
“Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 Newcastle United”.
Newcastle hoping to go on a positive run
It’s been a tough couple of months for Newcastle who exited both the Champions League and Carabao Cup in a matter of days and they will want to put this bad run of form behind them as soon as possible.
While facing Aston Villa is no easy challenge and most would expect them to lose, they have a kinder run of fixtures after their trip to Birmingham starting with Luton’s trip to St James’ Park on Saturday.
That’s not to say Newcastle will definitely win those games, but they’ve got a much better chance than in their recent run of facing Villa, Man City and Liverpool in consecutive matches.
There’s still so much left to play for and Eddie Howe is making his team aware of what is still at stake as the team look to achieve European qualification in back to back seasons as well as two trips to Wembley in the FA Cup.
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