Alan Shearer has tipped Everton to suffer a third successive defeat on Tyneside this Saturday.
David Moyes takes the Toffees to face Newcastle after losses to Bournemouth and Manchester United at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Across the last nine games, Everton have only won twice.
Shearer has now shared why he expects Newcastle to beat Everton, suggesting Thierno Barry is the main reason for his lack of belief in the Toffees.
What changes would you make? 🤔
Everton vs Newcastle United predicted XI.
Alan Shearer says “it would be a different story” at Everton with a better striker
When speaking to the Metro about his Premier League predictions, the 55-year-old suggested Everton would be higher up the division if Moyes had a better striker.
Shearer did not name Barry, but considering the Frenchman has started 19 Premier League games out of a possible 27 – scoring only five goals – nobody else is to blame for a lack of threat up top.
The Newcastle legend said: “Everton are having a tough time at home and are probably more suited to playing away right now, particularly with the way David Moyes will set them up. But if you look at Newcastle’s form and the belief they’ve got at St James’ Park, I’m backing a Newcastle home win.
“A point separating them sums up the league. Everton can’t win at home, yet they’re in a really decent league position. It would be a different story if Everton had a centre forward, someone who could put goals in the back of the net. I still think Newcastle might just edge this one because of the belief in Europe this week.”
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Moyes also has Beto to call upon, but the Guinea-Bissau international has only netted 19 goals in 101 games for Everton, so he is yet to prove he could do much better than Barry.
Thierno Barry was not the first choice for David Moyes
Barry is only 23 and could still come good following his £27m move from Villarreal back in July, but the Everton No.11 does have to contend with the fact he was not the first choice.
Moyes wanted Liam Delap after his excellent campaign with Ipswich last season, personally meeting the England U21 international and pitching Everton to him.
However, the 23-year-old opted to sign for Chelsea in a £30m move instead.
If Barry is unable to improve under Moyes, Everton may even move for Delap again this summer, as Chelsea could sell the forward due to the fact he only has three goals in 31 games so far.
Is is time to drop Barry? 😬
Thierno Barry's statistics vs Manchester United.
So, even though the France U21 international is yet to even finish one season at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, he may already be fighting for his future in the second half of this campaign.
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