Newcastle United are back in the Champions League and welcome Barcelona to St James’ Park for what could be a memorable night.
After a rather slow start to the season, Eddie Howe’s side picked up their first win in the Premier League against Wolves, with new signing Nick Woltemade announcing his arrival on Tyneside with a lovely header.
The win comes at the perfect time for Newcastle United, who enter the Champions League’s league phase for the first time since its introduction in 2024.
Newcastle have eight games to play in the league phase, and they could not have asked for a more exciting start, with a home game against Barcelona on Thursday night. St James’ Park will no doubt be rocking for the game, but it is down to the players to deliver on the pitch.
With Newcastle fans excited for the game, the Opta supercomputer has given its prediction on whether the Magpies can secure the three points.
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Opta confirmed Newcastle had the fifth-toughest Champions League fixtures, with games away against PSG and Marseille in the pipeline after Barca. It will take a lot of quality if the Magpies want to get into the knockouts, but Howe and his players will be up for the challenge.
Newcastle have beaten Barca at St James’ Park before. However, Opta believes that Barcelona have an ever so slight edge on Newcastle, despite the home advantage.
Barca has a 42.5% chance to win, while Newcastle only has a 32.6% chance, according to the data. The predictions are made by the computer running 10,000 simulations of the game, so the data is incredibly thorough.
Barca are without Gavi and Alejandro Balde for the game, while Hansi Flick has claimed that Lamine Yamal may not be able to play against Newcastle after sustaining an injury on international duty.
Should the wonderkid miss out, there is a good chance that former Newcastle target Raphinha will play for Barca.
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Having started the season well, Barca are understandably the favourites; they will be up against a lively St James’ Park crowd, which will do whatever it takes to push the team on.
Ally McCoist warned Barca about Newcastle’s atmosphere, saying that the La Liga giants have another thing coming if they think it will be a breeze.
The fans know what they need to do to help Newcastle secure the win, and that is to bring the noise. St James’ Park has been electric this season, the game against Liverpool is a prime example.
If crowd influence played a part in Opta’s predictions, then Newcastle’s chances would surely be much greater than they are.
Newcastle have toppled a giant at St James’ Park before; the hope is they will make more memories on Thursday.
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