Brentford – Newcastle : Preview & Prediction
After surrendering three leads in a pulsating 3-3 draw at Brighton last weekend, European hopefuls Brentford fell short once again on Wednesday. A 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford against Manchester United left them stuck just one point behind Aston Villa in seventh place, while the Bees also went winless in three games for the first time in the league since October.
Surprisingly, however, Brentford are also one of two teams, along with their midweek tormentors Man Utd, currently unbeaten at home in the Premier League (PL) in the last ten matches (G5, E5). Much of this is due to Brentford starting the weekend as one of only four teams to have scored in both halves in at least 50% of their home league games this season.
If Newcastle United are to end Brentford’s long unbeaten run in the league at home and move even closer to their first “bronze medal” in 20 years, they must try to emulate the brutal midweek performance that saw them demolish West Ham 5-1 in the capital. After what was also a fourth consecutive win, Eddie Howe’s men start this Easter weekend just two points behind where they were in 2002/03 before the final ten games.
Wednesday’s thrashing marked only the second time, and the first time since September 1998, that the ‘Magpies scored five goals in an away PL game. And any Brentford fan watching out of curiosity would have had memories of the first-round match in October, in which Newcastle also won 5-1 to maintain a dominant record against them this century (G5, E1, P1).
Players to watch: Ivan Toney has scored in two of the three previous PL clashes between the two, including the most recent one. Unfortunately for him, everyone in Newcastle’s colors was also at their best on the day, and perhaps none more so than Bruno Guimarães, who scored a brace and made the first goal contribution this season to a still perfect personal record for goals in PL matches (G6).
Key stat: Three of Newcastle’s previous four wins have seen their decisive goal come after the hour mark.
Brentford – Newcastle : Betting Tips
Newcastle – Win Odds: 2.25
