Paul Merson has claimed that there’s been a big change in Newcastle United’s performances this season as he predicts this weekend’s game vs Man City.
Newcastle are looking to make their first FA Cup semi-final appearance since 2005 when they were beaten by Man United, but standing in their way is a pretty formidable opponent.
In his weekly predictions for Sportskeeda, Merson has claimed that Newcastle have little chance of overcoming the treble winners after their latest defensive displays in the Premier League.
Merson gives Newcastle little hope vs City
Newcastle don’t exactly have a brilliant record at the Etihad where their last win came in 2014 in the Carabao Cup when Rolando Aarons, Adam Armstrong and Gabriel Obertan were leading the line.
The Geordies certainly have a much-improved squad from 10 years ago and they had been hoping to finally end that longstanding trophy drought this season, but there’s not a lot of optimism on Tyneside at the moment.
Against Chelsea on Monday night Newcastle were well below standard, they showed little fight and were conceding some very poor goals which were easily avoidable, and it will be a huge worry for Eddie Howe heading into this game.
Merson believes this has been a huge problem for Newcastle all season after they had previously been so tight at the back last year when they had one of the best defence’s in the division.
On the game, Merson said: “I can’t see anything other than a Manchester City win. I was at Stamford Bridge the other night – Anthony Gordon went off injured and Newcastle are letting in too many goals.
“There’s something missing at Newcastle at the moment but I can’t put my finger on it. Suddenly, they are very open. Not long ago, they were good to watch and right at the back. The goals they conceded against Chelsea were also really poor – they had to score two worldies to make the scoring a bit more respectable.
“I like Eddie Howe and I feel they’ve been a bit unlucky with injuries this season, but a handful of other teams have also been ravaged by injuries. They can’t keep making excuses as the other day against Chelsea, they had a decent enough squad to go toe-to-toe with Chelsea.
“At the moment, Newcastle can’t really go out and splash the cage due to FFP restrictions, so I doubt they’ll pull the plug on Howe to start a new project. I do feel sorry for them a little bit. They haven’t won a trophy in god knows how long and this is a stinking draw for them, let’s be honest.
“Kevin De Bruyne is Manchester City’s best player, of course he’s going to be hurt when he gets subbed off prematurely in arguably the biggest game of the season. I don’t mind his reaction and I think even Pep Guardiola understood that. He’s been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia and to be honest I’d be gutted if he went there.
“I can understand if Mo Salah were to move to Saudi as that could be a huge coup for the SPL considering his stature in the Arab world, but if I’m De Bruyne, I doubt I’d be swayed by a big-money move to the Middle East.”
Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 Newcastle
Make or break for the Magpies
A win against Manchester City could completely turn Newcastle’s season around as they currently look like they are heading for a mid-table finish in the Premier League.
They received a big boost this week with Anthony Gordon looking like he’s avoided serious injury and could even be available for this game, though they may not want to risk it.
Howe could really benefit from another trip to Wembley on a personal level with many claiming that he’s not suited to managing a top team and that he’s taken Newcastle as far as he can.
In his defence he has had to deal with an extraordinary number of injuries, but the 46-year-old has made some questionable decisions in terms of team selection and choice of substitutes, so there is some blame to be had.
Newcastle will of course be backed by their travelling fans in their thousands once again who have to believe that they can finally get one over Pep Guardiola’s side in their own stadium.
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