Paul Merson fears nightmare for Newcastle United
Paul Merson has offered his thoughts on Newcastle United and pre-match prediction ahead of our 5.30pm clash with Everton.
If you trust the Sky Sports pundit's opinion and he's on the money with his latest comments, we could see more misery on the road for Eddie Howe's Mags. However, given Merson's tendency to be wrong, his early thoughts might just be a good omen!
Merson is struggling to pinpoint what's up with Newcastle, questioning how we can beat Man City one week then collapse against Marseille after taking the lead.
Based on this, our failure to win a Premier League away game since April, and Everton's impressive 1-0 win at Man Utd on Monday with 10 men, he thinks David Moyes might get one of Eddie Howe on the boss' 48th birthday.
In his latest piece for Sportskeeda, Merson previewed the game, discussed both sides' form and explained why he's backing the Toffees to win 2-1 in what would be a nightmare result for Newcastle United:
"I don't know what's up with Newcastle. They play like they did against Manchester City and in the next game they lose to Marseille, despite taking the lead! Newcastle's away form in the Premier League has been quite poor and they next face Everton on Merseyside. This is a tough game coming up for Newcastle, no doubt about it."Everton were outstanding against Manchester United. I know United produced a rotten display, but you have to tip your hat to Everton for scoring with 10 men and securing that win away from home. David Moyes won't be too worried about the Idrissa Gueye incident with Michael Keane, which led to the midfielder's red card. As a manager, you secretly want that fight between players. When I was playing, these fights used to happen in every training session! If I were a manager, I wouldn't mind my players pushing each other like that.
"But it was still the right decision to send Gueye off. These players are huge role models to kids across the world. If he walked away without any punishment, then kids would start doing the same in their games on Sunday mornings. That's why it was important to set an example by taking action against Gueye.
"Everton look like a much-improved side and don't sit back and play defensive football anymore. Newcastle have won just one game away from home this season and I don't know how I can back them in this game."
Prediction: Everton 2-1 Newcastle
Newcastle's away form simply must improve soon, not just because we're 14th in the table and without a league win on the road since April, but because two of our final three Champions League games are at Bayer Leverkusen and PSG.
Even in the Carabao Cup, beat Fulham in the quarter-final and we'll have a two-legged semi-final likely against one of Arsenal, Chelsea or Man City.
After four defeats in a row against Brighton, West Ham, Brentford and Marseille away from St James' Park, it would be a disaster to lose again at Everton tonight.
