Newcastle-Bournemouth is a match valid for the eighth day of the Premier League and is played on Saturday at 4pm
NEWCASTLE – BOURNEMOUTH
Seven points for both Newcastle and newly-promoted Bournemouth, but while that’s a pretty good haul for the Cherries, it can’t be quite as satisfying for the Magpies after so much money spent in the last, pharaonic, buying campaigns. One victory in six games is too little for a team that, following the massive investments – almost 140 million euros were spent – of the new Saudi ownership, is aiming for a leap in quality, to leave the lower areas of the standings to aim for Europe or even more noble goals. The feeling is that Eddie Howe’s men have to find the right balance, they gave two good performances against Manchester City (3-3) and Liverpool (2-1) but only managed one point, and they are paying for too many draws against teams like Brighton, Wolverhampton and Crystal Palace.
Nothing, however, is compromised. From now on the calendar becomes more downhill and Howe will have plenty of time to make the right adjustments. In the meantime he is called upon to win against the club that represents a huge and significant piece of his past: Bournemouth. The current Newcastle coach not only wore the Rossoneri jersey for a long time as a player, but also sat on their bench from 2012 to 2020, becoming the great protagonist of the Cherries’ historic first promotion to the Premier League.
At the helm of Bournemouth today is Gary O’Neil, appointed on an interim basis following the dismissal of Scott Parker, who was sacked after the three crushing defeats against City, Arsenal and Liverpool in which the Rossoneri conceded 16 goals without scoring any. If a shake-up was needed, it was achieved: after drawing at home to Wolverhampton, a fortnight ago Bournemouth won the salvation clash against Nottingham Forest thanks to a sensational comeback from 2-0 down to 2-3.
Bournemouth’s Mepham
The Prediction
Newcastle give the impression that they have collected less than they actually deserved and the match against Bournemouth looks like the right opportunity to get back to winning ways and even convincing. The Magpies are likely to win in a game of at least two goals overall, as nobody has conceded more goals (18) than the Cherries so far.
The likely Newcastle-Bournemouth line-ups
- NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Targett; Bruno Guimaraes, Longstaff, Joelinton; Almiron, Isak, Saint-Maximin.
- BOURNEMOUTH (4-4-1-1): Neto; Smith, Mepham, Kelly, Zemura; Christie, Cook, Lerma, Tavernier; Billing; Solanke.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-0
