Chasing a sixth successive victory in a row, the Magpies face Aston Villa at Villa Park on Saturday lunchtime in the Premier League.
Villa themselves are on a four match success streak and they will be aiming to extend that with a victory over Champions League chasing Newcastle United which would be the first time this century they have achieved this feat. John Gregory was at the helm back then.
Unai Emery’s side toppled Steve Cooper’s Nottingham Forest last time out thanks to Bertrand Traore and and Ollie Watkins, a result which lifted them to sixth place in the table.
Seven of the Villain’s final eight fixtures are against teams in the top half of the table but that won’t be too much of a concern for Unai Emery. He has seen his side score at least one goal in all of his previous 17 premier league matches.
Should Aston Villa score on Saturday, it will only be the third time that a manager has seen their side score in each of their first 18 matches in the top flight. Mike Walker being the first with Norwich in 1992 and most recently in 2009 when Carlo Ancelotti was in charge of Chelsea.
The Magpies will be looking to do the double over Villa after securing a 4-0 victory in the reverse fixture back in October. The last time they done the double over the Midlands side was in the 2013-14 campaign.
Its mad to think that this time last year, the Magpies were aiming to avoid the drop after a dismal first half to the season. Fast forward to now, Sir Eddie Howe (as I’m sure most fans would call him), has led his team of warriors to a total of 35 points from 17 matches and are currently strong contenders to finish in a Champions League qualification spot.
Alexander Isak’s beautiful second half strike was enough to seal the victory for the Magpies against the Bees last weekend. The big Swede is in fine form at the moment and is having a healthy battle with Callum Wilson for the converted Number Nine position.
Three of their last five victories have been on the road and should they emerge victorious on Saturday, it will be the first time in 27years since they have won four successive away Premier League matches.
Aston Villa Team News: Leon Bailey will miss out with a hamstring injury. Philippe Coutinho & Boubacar Kamara are also on the sidelines. Ashley Young is set to start at right back in place of Matty Cash. Ollie Watkins will be hoping to start on Saturday as he chases his 10th goal in 12 league matches.
Newcastle United Team News: Eddie Howe has confirmed that Allan Saint-Maximin will be out for a number of weeks with a hamstring issue. Miguel Almiron has returned to training this week but it may be too soon for him to feature in the match day squad. Alexander Isak will be hoping to get final starting eleven spot up top ahead of Callum Wilson, both forwards are in good form and and choosing who starts will be a headache that Eddie Howe will be happy about. Anthony Gordon could start on either side of the wing.
Sutty’s Match Prediction: Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side are playing with confidence at the moment and will be tough competition for Newcastle who still boast the best defensive record in the league so far. This can go two ways in my opinion, if we play like we did in the first half against Brentford, we are in for a tough challenge and could be in trouble. If we play like we did in the second half however, it could be another dominant display by the Geordies. My score prediction being Aston Villa 1 Newcastle United 2.
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14.04.2023