The PGMOL has changed the referee for Newcastle United v Fulham in the Premier League.
The Magpies have won consecutive games in the Champions League and head into the Fulham match on the back of beating Benfica 3-0 at St James’ Park on Tuesday night.
Eddie Howe’s side have been free-scoring in Europe, having also won 4-0 away to Union Saint-Gilloise in Brussels last month. But their form in the Premier League has been the opposite.
Newcastle sit 14th in the table, with their only two wins coming at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Nottingham Forest, both of whom currently lie in the relegation zone.
And they are the only two clubs to score fewer than United this season, with four of their seven goals in the league scored by £69million club-record signing Nick Woltemade.
Again, comparing that to the Champions League, Woltemade has scored once, with Anthony Gordon the top scorer with four goals and Harvey Barnes second with three goals.
Eddie Howe ‘scratching his head’ over Newcastle United’s form
The difference between performances in the Premier League and Champions League has left Howe scratching his head.
Howe said: “Yeah, that's a head-scratcher for me as well, because we know their qualities, we know they're goal-scorers, we know how good of players they are, and that goes for another few players in our squad as well.
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“Everyone's pointed to the fact that we haven't been scoring enough in the Premier League. When you see us play like we did tonight, and how we attacked, and the amount of chances we created, that's a difficult one for us to work out
“But all we can do is return to the Premier League and return with the same attitude, and I think the attitudes there, the quality will shift.”
PGMOL change Newcastle United v Fulham referee
In what Newcastle will be hoping is a good omen, Peter Bankes will referee the match versus Fulham. Bankes recently took charge of the Magpies’ 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest, in which he awarded a penalty that Woltemade scored.
Bankes will be assisted by Eddie Smart and Steve Meredith, and Lewis Smith will act as the fourth official. On VAR duty is John Brooks, supported by Scott Ledger.
Hartlepool-born Tony Harrington had initially been assigned the game but has swapped with Bankes to referee Wolverhampton Wanderers against Burnley on Sunday.
Harrington was fourth official for the Europa Conference League game between Croatian side HNK Rijeka and Sparta Prague on Thursday, which had to be abandoned at half-time as torrential rain left the pitch unplayable.
The game resumed on Friday afternoon as Rijeka clinched a 1-0 victory. Given the quick turnaround, Harrington’s Premier League duties this weekend have been pushed back 24 hours.
Eddie Howe previews Newcastle United v Fulham
Looking ahead to the Fulham game, Howe said: “You go back to last year, [we had[ two disappointing results against Fulham. We know the qualities of their team, Marco has done a brilliant job there.
“These are difficult games for us. The high emotion of the Champions League games and the energy those games bring you is a totally different feel to back to the afternoon kick-off in the Premier League.
“It’s a big mental challenge for us and we have to rise to that and grow from the experiences that we’ve had previously. This will be a tough game.”
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