Alan Shearer has made it perfectly clear to Eddie Howe what his Newcastle United side must do against Fulham after a stuttering start to the Premier League season.
Newcastle United have struggled in the Premier League, picking up just two wins from their opening eight games. While the fixture list has not been kind to them, Eddie Howe would have hoped to have a few more points on the board.
Having impressed in the Champions League, the Magpies need to start performing in the Premier League. If not, they will not qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Alan Shearer says his former club need to start putting a run of positive results together, starting against Fulham on Saturday.
Alan Shearer doing punditry for Manchester City vs Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Alan Shearer needs Newcastle United to kickstart positive run by beating Fulham
Ahead of Newcastle United vs Fulham, Alan Shearer has given his verdict on what the result will be for the Metro.
The Newcastle United legend has backed Eddie Howe’s side to pick up three points, and hopes this can be the start of a positive run domestically.
“I would hope Newcastle can get back to winning ways at home after what happened in midweek and with the options that Eddie Howe’s got, as well as the belief,” he said.
“They need to go on a bit of a run in the league, and I would hope that starts this weekend – I’m going to be at the game on Saturday. Newcastle should have too much for Fulham.
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I don’t think Fulham will finish 15th, they’ll be around about mid-table – they’ve had a tough start, but let’s hope that tough start continues at the weekend.”
Chris Sutton agrees with Alan Shearer despite Champions League exploits
Shearer’s former strike partner Chris Sutton is in agreement, having also backed the Magpies to be victorious at St James’ Park on Saturday.
He has told BBC Sport that Newcastle United will beat Marco Silva’s side, admitting that Fulham’s form simply is not good enough at the moment.
“I nearly always back Newcastle to win at home, even after they’ve just played in the Champions League, and I feel pretty confident about their chances here too,” he said.
“Eddie Howe’s side played well against Benfica in midweek and while I think Fulham are a well-organised team who are capable of going to St James’ Park and winning – like they did last season – they are not in great form at the moment.”
While Fulham have had the full week to prepare for this game, Newcastle United were in Champions League action on Tuesday night. It was a very fruitful 90 minutes, with Newcastle beating Benfica 3-0 to make it back-to-back European wins.
The gruelling Champions League schedule is yet to truly hurt the Magpies, and it will be interesting to see how they cope after their latest European tie.
Newcastle have picked up four points out of six from their two post-Champions League games so far, drawing with Bournemouth and beating Nottingham Forest.