Paul Merson predicts what the score will be between Everton and Newcastle United on Saturday

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Paul Merson is unsure what to expect from ‘funny’ Newcastle United when they face Everton on Saturday.

The Magpies are preparing to face Everton at Goodison Park, as they aim to prove that their performance against Manchester City was not a fluke.

Newcastle United were much better last week, on the back of a rotten performance against Fulham. Alan Shearer thought Newcastle looked much more like themselves against Manchester City, as Anthony Gordon’s penalty secured a 1-1 draw.

Gordon is set to start up front against Everton in the absence of Alexander Isak on Saturday, as the Scouser gets set to face his former club.

For Newcastle, it is a chance to keep pace with the leading pack, with Eddie Howe‘s side sitting in seventh position after six games. They have got 11 points on the board, four behind top of the table Liverpool.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
5	Aston VillaAston Villa	6	4	1	1	12	9	3	13
6	FulhamFulham	6	3	2	1	8	5	3	11
7	NewcastleNewcastle	6	3	2	1	8	7	1	11
8	TottenhamTottenham	6	3	1	2	12	5	7	10

Paul Merson delivers his verdict on Everton vs Newcastle

While Newcastle are in a strong position in the table, it is difficult to predict how they are going to perform at Goodison Park.

The Magpies were excellent against Manchester City, but it was the first time this season that Eddie Howe’s side have performed consistently well over 90 minutes.

That is perhaps why Paul Merson has told Sportskeeda that he does not think Newcastle United will win against Everton this weekend.

“Newcastle are a funny team because I think they’re fortunate to have the points they already have this season,” he said.

“Everton steadied their ship with a good win over Crystal Palace last weekend. So there’s not much pressure on them now compared to the previous weeks. That helps Everton more than you think and it could be a huge boost for them.

“If they click, Newcastle are a very dangerous team. But the problem is that I don’t know if they’ll turn up like that on the pitch. It’s actually the same for both teams here, you don’t know what you’re going to get from them. That’s exactly why I’m going for a draw here.

“If both teams play to the best of their abilities, then Newcastle will win. I’m not sure that’ll be the case here though, a draw looks more likely with both teams finding the back of the net.”

Merson’s prediction: Everton 1 Newcastle 1

Everton picked up their first win ahead of facing Newcastle

Everton go into the weekend sitting 16th in the Premier League table, and have won just one game all season.

That came last week, as they beat Crystal Palace 2-1. It was a big victory for Sean Dyche, who had seen his side squander leads against Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Leicester City.

Dyche is expecting a tough game against Newcastle, and knows his side will need to put in a consistent performance to get the result they are looking for.

But the Toffees will take confidence from the fact they played very well against Newcastle United last season.

They won 3-0 at Goodison Park, with Newcastle playing pretty terribly on Merseyside. Kieran Trippier made a couple of crucial errors, as a fatigued Toon side slumped to a rather embarrassing defeat.

In the return fixture, Newcastle played better, but were still unable to win. Newcastle and Everton played out a 1-1 draw, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s penalty cancelling out Alexander Isak’s opener.

Paul Merson is expecting the same score on Saturday evening, but Howe will certainly be setting his team up to win.