After being knocked out of the Champions League, Newcastle United can now focus on their domestic duties – starting against Fulham on Saturday.
That is the view of former Premier League striker Chris Sutton, who has been speaking about the Magpies’ upcoming game this weekend.
Wednesday night was heartbreaking, as Newcastle’s European adventure came to an end. We were unable to get the win that we needed, while defeat means that we do not even drop into the Europa League.
Some may argue that is a blessing, but there is a real sense of disappointment following Wednesday night at St James’ Park.
But there is also a lot of pride in the team, and we must show them that when they take on Fulham on Saturday. It is suddenly a huge game for Eddie Howe’s side, and it is a tough one too with the Cottagers boasting back-to-back 5-0 wins.
Newcastle will need to dig deep to be victorious, but Chris Sutton still has confidence in the Magpies despite their Champions League exit.
Chris Sutton predicts that Newcastle will beat Fulham on Saturday
As part of his Premier League predictions for BBC Sport, Chris Sutton has backed Newcastle to beat Fulham 3-1 on Saturday.
“Free-scoring Fulham have turned into the Premier League’s surprise package, so predicting this game is not as clear-cut as it might have been a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
“That’s partly because it would be easy to doubt Newcastle at the moment – they were out on their feet against Tottenham last weekend and gave everything in defeat to AC Milan on Wednesday.
“But I am still going with Eddie Howe’s side to come out on top. They play Chelsea in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals next week but now they are out of Europe, they can concentrate on the league. They have to, really.
“And, at home, they have still been impressive with seven wins and only one defeat in the league so far this season – that late turnaround against Liverpool in August. This won’t be easy, but the crowd will help them here.”
Every week, Sutton goes up against a celebrity. This week it is the turn of professional Darts player Chris Dobey, who is set to compete at the PDC World Darts Championship this month. He is also a Toon fan, and has backed the Magpies to win 2-0.
Newcastle’s home form is still excellent
While we now boast a disappointing record of three defeats on the spin, the context surrounding them puts things into perspective.
While Alan Shearer might not believe it is an issue, tiredness has played a part. It certainly did in our previous two Premier League games, while it was win or bust on Wednesday.
Sure, we could have played for the draw and settled for the Europa League, but that is not the Newcastle United way. It is not Eddie Howe’s way.
The AC Milan game was just our second defeat at St James’ Park, with the other being Liverpool – when they snatched all three points late in the day.
While confidence is low and Fulham are in great form, Newcastle can respond. Howe does not want his players to dwell on the AC Milan game, and playing at St James’ Park just days later gives them the perfect opportunity to recover and get their season back on track.
Chris Sutton thinks Newcastle will do exactly that, and so does Chris Dobey!
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