Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has shared one guarantee in his prediction for the Magpies’ game against Wolves at St James’ Park.
The Premier League is back, and the Magpies return to St James’ Park for their second home game of the season.
Newcastle United welcome Wolves to the North East in a game which fans will see as a must-win to get their season up and running.
Performances have not been particularly poor for the Magpies this season, with two clean sheets in three games. There has, however, been a lack of attacking quality. Nick Woltemade could make his Newcastle debut against Wolves, giving Eddie Howe the quality striker they were hoping for.
A win would be a major boost to Howe ahead of a busy schedule, which includes two Champions League games and the start of their Carabao Cup defence. Now, Shearer has made his prediction for the game.
With the Magpies back in business, Alan Shearer has claimed one thing is for certain when Newcastle return home in his latest prediction.
Tino Livramento tussles with Rayan Ait-Nouri during a Premier League game between Newcastle United and Wolves.
Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Alan Shearer predicts a Newcastle United win in front of a passionate crowd
Woltemade will be eager to impress for Newcastle against Wolves. The striker joined for a club record fee late in the transfer window and must now live up to his price tag.
Shearer jokingly predicted Woltemade would score 25 goals this season, perhaps taking a swipe at Alexander Isak, who never hit that tally in the Premier League for Newcastle. Meanwhile, Yoane Wissa will miss the Wolves game due to discomfort in his knee after coming off during international duty.
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The pressure is on Newcastle to deliver, especially with a slightly weaker squad than imagined, but Newcastle legend Shearer still believes that his former club can pick up all three points in a conversation on Friday morning, before Howe’s injury updates.
“All eyes will be on whether one or both new strikers will start for Newcastle,” he told Metro.
“I suspect at least one will, and the crowd will be up for it.
“It’ll be great for people to forget all the Isak talk now that situation is done. I’ll go for a Newcastle win.”
Newcastle United need to be better in front of goal against Wolves
The Magpies are in a situation where their defence looks solid, but they are struggling to find the back of the net. It was a valiant effort to come back from two goals down against Liverpool, but in other games, they have barely ever looked like scoring.
In their goalless draw against Leeds United, Newcastle registered just two shots on target, both of them coming via Jacob Murphy. Young forward William Osula failed to impress after finally being given a chance, so all eyes will be on Woltemade to deliver.
Newcastle simply must be better in front of goal. The arrival of Woltemade should help with that, but he may also need a bit of time to get himself acclimatised to the demands of the Premier League.
In an ideal world, Howe would start Wissa against Wolves, a player who already has multiple years of experience playing in England and knows what it takes to score goals. Woltemade can score; he proved that last season in the Bundesliga, but his new teammates must give him all the possible opportunities to hit the ground running.