Newcastle United meet Brentford at St James’ Park in a mid-table Premier League clash.
Victory by a two-goal margin or more would see Newcastle go fourth if Chelsea lose elsewhere, whereas Brentford could go fifth with a win.
Team News
Allan Saint-Maximin could return for Newcastle after recovering from a hamstring injury, which has kept him sidelined since late August.
Karl Darlow (ankle), Emil Krafth (knee), Matt Ritchie (calf), Jonjo Shelvey (hamstring) and Alexander Isak (muscle) remain absent.
Brentford will have Sergi Canos available after he missed their goalless draw at Bournemouth last weekend with a hamstring injury.
Ethan Pinnock (knee) could feature but Pontus Jansson (hamstring) joins Christian Norgaard (Achilles) and Keane Lewis-Potter (ligament) on sidelines.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle are unbeaten in two previous Premier League meetings against Brentford,
- Brentford claimed one point from their only previous Premier League visit to Newcastle, which ended in a 3-3 draw in November 2021.
- Joelinton scored in both appearances for Newcastle against Brentford last season.
- Newcastle are unbeaten in their last five home matches dating back to May 2022 (W2, D3).
- Brentford are winless in four away matches this season (D3, L1).
Prediction
Having failed to win in six matches prior to the international break, Newcastle certainly silenced any critics with a cracking energetic win at Fulham last weekend where their intensity and movement was complete with brilliant patience on shots and quick reaction when lost possession.
Brentford meanwhile will be relieved to escape Bournemouth with a point after VAR luckily was on their side amidst dodgy refereeing, yet they delivered fantastic attacks only to be frustatingly denied by Neto whilst they also defended well with Ivan Toney particularly crucial to clearing set pieces.
Now if Brentford can find their clinical touch and Newcastle build upon last week’s morale-boosting effort, I genuinely think that we could be in for a cracker like last season’s encounter was because I can foresee both teams going for it in a end-to-end scrap here.
Newcastle’s home crowd though will be in a party mood to celebrate the first anniversary of a Saudi-Arabian led consortium takeover, so their energy could well make the difference in what could be another thriller between these two teams.
Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Brentford
Result: Newcastle 5-1 Brentford
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