Paul Merson fears for "woeful" Newcastle

We’ve only just entered November, not even a third of the way through our Premier League season, and  yet it feels like Sunday’s game away to Brentford is almost a must-win.

After the disappointment of losing to West Ham last weekend, we already can’t afford to drop points as the league slowly starts to slowly separate into European football contenders and relegation strugglers.

But factoring in our torrid 2025 away form, taking home all three points from our trip to the GTech stadium feels like a monumental task for the squad that only played a Champions League game under 96 hours earlier.

While we all hope to end our run without a win on the road, Paul Merson feels comfortable in predicting us to drop points this afternoon.

Merson criticises “woeful” Newcastle

Writing for Sportskeeda, Paul Merson previewed our upcoming trip to Brentford and predicted Newcastle to suffer another loss away from St James' Park.

Bemoaning our "woeful" away form and loss at the London Stadium last weekend, Merson fears that our poor record on the road will continue, particularly against a team he calls one of the “toughest fixtures” in the entire division.

As he highlights, Brentford have played Aston Villa, Chelsea, Man Utd, Man City and Liverpool at home this season, and lost just once (to Man City) in that time, while Newcastle haven't won an away game in the league since April.

“It was a terrible result for Newcastle against West Ham last weekend. They kept the ball but never looked like scoring too many times.

"It's a shame because I thought they were starting to find some rhythm and then that loss has now set them back.”

“Brentford away is one of the toughest fixtures in this league. Aston Villa, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool have all played Brentford away and only City won.

"This is bread and butter for Brentford and Newcastle's away form is actually quite woeful. I'm backing the hosts for a win.”

Merson's prediction: Brentford 2-1 Newcastle

A repeat of last season needs to be avoided

Last season, the damning loss to Brentford away from home was the catalyst for us to go on and win six Premier League games in a row: a rich run of form which eventually proved to be essential as we qualified for the Champions League once again.

After recent results, however, and with how congested the current mid table section is in the league, we simply cannot afford to just accept we’re not the favourites on Sunday and just hope we can bounce back after the international break.

Following on from Sunday, our list of upcoming league fixtures reads Manchester City (H), Everton (A), Spurs (H) and Burnley (H) on the 6th of December. Considering the form of all of these sides, Sunday’s trip to the GTech will feel like the final opportunity to win three points before the festive period.

On paper, our squad is much stronger than what the Bees can offer. But mentality-wise, the team must shake this idea that we truly only can do it when we have home support and backing, and that we need to showcase exactly why we’re a feared Champions League side this season.