The Gtech Community Stadium is the venue for Newcastle United’s next fixture as they face Brentford in their third Premier League fixture in seven days. The Magpies battered West Ham 5-1 during the week at the London Stadium whilst the Bees went down 1-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Marcus Rashford scored the only goal of the game on Wednesday night as his first half strike proved to be the difference between the two sides. Kevin Schade had a golden opportunity to level things up in the second half when he found himself one on one with David de Gea but the Spanish keeper had other ideas.
The Bees have only won two of their last eight top flight matches which has dented their ambitions of gaining a slot for European football next season. They enter the weekend in ninth place, level on points with Liverpool who are in eight and one point behind Aston Villa who are in seventh.
One thing they can take comfort from is their run at home this season, they have only lost one game at the Gtech this season which came against current league leaders Arsenal. Since their defeat to the Gunners, they have went ten games without defeat on home turf and have scored in eight out of those ten. They face a tough task of extending that run when Eddie Howe’s Magpies come to town.
Newcastle hammered the Hammers on Wednesday night at the London Stadium as they ran out 5-1 winners in the capital.
Callum Wilson opened the scoring inside the opening ten minutes before Joelinton doubled their advantage less than ten minutes later. Kurt Zouma pulled one back before half time but that was as good as it got for the hosts. Wilson restored the two goal lead moments after the interval then Joelinton grabbed his brace and Alexander Isak rounded off the scoring with a well placed lob into the back of the net.
Newcastle’s turn of form couldn’t have happened at a better time. In February, they dropped out of the champions league places and lost the Carabao Cup final. They are now sitting in third place and ahead of Manchester United on goal difference. During their four game winning run, Eddie Howe’s side have scored 11 goals and conceded just three.
Brentford suffered the same score line against the Magpies when they faced them at St James’ Park back in October and in this fixture last season they suffered a 2-0 loss at the Gtech thanks to goals from Joelinton and Joe Willock.
Brentford Team News: Vitaly Janelt has recently returned to training following a knee injury and could return to the lineup on Saturday. Frank Onyeka remains sidelined along with Kristoffer Ajer and Keane Lewis-Potter. Yoane Wissa and Aaron Hickey should return to the starting eleven.
Newcastle United Team News: Eddie Howe has no fresh injuries to report after his sides win over West Ham. Joe Willock came on from the bench after he recovered from a thigh concern. Miguel Almiron is still on his recovery journey so he will once more miss out. Jacob Murphy has been a stand out player in recent weeks and should keep his place in the starting eleven opposite Saint-Maximin. Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak will likely start on the bench despite the former grabbing a goal on Wednesday.
Sutty’s Match Prediction: Whilst the Bees are playing better in the league than West Ham and have only lost once at home this term, I still think the Magpies will be too much to handle for Thomas Frank’s side. Newcastle are scoring goals for fun at the moment and I expect that to continue at the weekend. My score prediction being Brentford 1 – Newcastle United 3.
@jsuttonwrites
Comments