In the 18th round of Premier League, we take a look at the match between Newcastle and Fulham at St. James Park, the home of the Newcastle United.
Newcastle United are currently 14th in the league with an overall record of 4-4-9 and 16 points, which puts them closer to the relegation zone than the top 5 teams. In their recent 5 games, Newcastle have won 2, draw 1 and lost 2. In their most recent match, Newcastle played against Huddersfield, which they won 1:0. The match itself was heavily one-sided, with Huddersfield holding the ball 74% of the time, had 15 goal attempts and 5 shots on goal. Newcastle on the other side had only 26% ball possession, 8 goal attempts and 5 shots on goal. Despite being heavily outperformed, Newcastle was the only team that managed to score a goal in 55th minute. The match ended with a final score of 0:1, which meant Newcastle won a match with only 26% ball possession. On one side we could say they were just lucky, but on the other side, the same argument could be made that they used their possession better than Huddersfield.
The visiting side today, Fulham are still at the bottom of the league with an overall record of 2-3-12 and only 9 points. In their last 5 games, Fulham has won 1, draw 1 and lost 3. Coming into this match, Fulham is on a 2 game losing streak, as they have been defeated by Manchester United (4:1) and most recently by West Ham (0:2). Using the word “poor” would not be enough to describe how Fulham is playing this season. Looking at their away games, Fulham has not yet won a match in 9 games they played. In fact, out of 9 away games, they lost 8 and drew only 1. In other words, Fulham did not manage to grab a single point in away games since 1st of September when they played a draw against Brighton (2:2). In their most recent match against Manchester United, Fulham was completely dominated. United had 63% ball possession, 20 goal attempts and 11 shots on goal, whereas Fulham had only 37% ball possession, 10 goal attempts and 4 shots on goal. The match ended 4:1 for United, with Fulham scoring a goal from a penalty kick in 67th minute.
There is no denying Fulham is a strong candidate for relegation and if they don’t improve soon, they surely will be playing in the 2nd league next season. As of now, they are one of the worst offensive teams (16 goals this season) and THE worst defensive team (42 goals conceded). In the span of 17 games, Fulham conceded on average 2.4 goals per match, which arguably is the main reason why they are sitting at bottom of the league. Newcastle, on the other hand, are coming into this match after their 4th win in the league. They are not particularly good this season but are far better than Fulham. They have managed to win 2 out of the last 5 games, and to be fair, they could have won against Wolves if they hadn’t received a red card in the 57th minute, which changed the course of the match. This should be a great chance for Newcastle to start a winning streak and I would be surprised if Fulham caused any problems for Newcastle. Expect the home side to walk from this match with 3 points.
Prediction: Newcastle -0.50 Asian Handicap
Odds: 2.06 Pinnacle and SBOBET
