It’s fair to say that Newcastle United fans have been left both impressed and frustrated by their start to the Premier League season.
By far the better team in both games against Aston Villa and Liverpool, the fact we only have one point to show from it will have been a bitter pill for Eddie Howe and the entire team to swallow.
It makes our next game away to Leeds United all the more important, as a win there is imperative if we don’t want to start falling behind the other European sides this early into the season.
Elland Road is no easy visit however, and pundit Paul Merson believes we’ll struggle to get the win on Saturday evening.
Writing for Sportskeeda, Merson believes Saturday’s evening kick off will finish 1-1, which would mark the fourth draw in our last five games against Leeds.
Merson predicts that a full strength Newcastle would win this “easily”, but with Anthony Gordon banned, Nick Woltemade not signed in time to play, Alexander Isak still absent and Joelinton out, he thinks it could be another point on the road.
Despite losing 5-0 at the Emirates last weekend, Leeds looked solid in front of the Elland Road faithful, beating Everton 1-0 in their opening game a few weeks back.
Discussing the game, set to be shown at 5.30pm on Sky Sports, Merson said:
> _“Newcastle were outstanding the other day against Liverpool. But they got no points to show for that brilliant performance, which will be quite hard to take for the players._
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> _“The bigger problem here is that they could be without Joelinton and Sandro Tonali, who both limped off with injuries in that loss to Liverpool. Alexander Isak is obviously missing and to make matters worse, his deputy at centre-forward Anthony Gordon is suspended!_
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> _“If Newcastle had all of them players fit and available, they would easily win this game. William Osula came on and scored against Liverpool but I still don’t think he’s ready to start week in, week out in the Premier League._
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> _“This is the perfect time for Leeds to take on Newcastle and they should try to make the most of it. Leeds will be disappointed about losing to Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup, that is a game they should have won. I expect a better result this weekend._
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> **Prediction**: Leeds 1-1 Newcastle
Although three players were forced off against Liverpool on Monday, Howe has revealed that there’s a good chance we could still see two of them on Saturday.
In his own pre-match conference on Friday, the gaffer revealed that the injuries sustained to Tonali and Joelinton weren’t as severe as first feared, and the Italian could be available for the trip to Leeds.
Fabian Schar meanwhile, forced off with a suspected concussion in the second half, looks to also be fine, and too could be an option for Howe in defence.
Monday night showed just how much Howe can rely on his core squad and most dependable stars to deliver big performances: with a win an absolute necessity on Saturday, here’s hoping they deliver again.