Paul Merson makes two Newcastle predictions ahead of Aston Villa clash

Paul Merson has made not one but two predictions ahead of Newcastle's trip to Aston Villa tonight.

He believes our top four hopes will be 'completely and utterly' over if we if we lose at Villa Park and he think we'll do exactly that, backing Unai Emery's side to come away 2-0 winners.

The Sky Sports pundit feels it's a must-win and, from a top four perspective he is probably right. Lose and we will move 17 points behind Villa. Yes, we have a winnable run of fixtures coming our way and players to come back from injury, but that would be a huge deficit to overcome.

Merson reckons we'll 'come out and play', fearing this will play into Villa's hands perfectly. They beat us 3-0 in this fixture last season, yet we kicked off the current campaign with a 5-1 win over Emery's side at St James' Park back in August.

Speaking to Sportskeeda ahead of the game, here's what Merson had to say:

'Newcastle United absolutely have to win this game if they want to have any chance of making it into the Premier League top four. If they lose, it's completely and utterly out of the question.

'Villa, on the other hand, are a force to be reckoned with at home and will start to feel the pressure in the coming weeks as expectations are naturally increasing after their strong start to the season. This is a dangerous game that will test their credentials, but Newcastle will come out and play, which will play into their hands.'

Prediction: Aston Villa 2-0 Newcastle United