Some interesting comments from this BBC Sport pundit on Newcastle United.
Chris Sutton speaking as United prepare for their 56th match of the season.
Newcastle United visiting Nottingham Forest with three games to go.
A 2pm kick-off on Sunday as Eddie Howe looks to follow up the 3-1 win over Brighton.
With the Premier League table so tight, if Newcastle win today then only three points will cover the six teams from eighth down to thirteenth with two rounds of matches still to go.
If other results/competitions end up falling right, eighth place in the Premier League could equal qualification for European football.
The BBC Sport pundit declaring: “Nottingham Forest are not quite mathematically safe yet on 42 points and this weekend they play before West Ham and Tottenham do, so they will go into this game still needing something. Forest have come a long way under Vitor Pereira and are playing really well at the moment and scoring goals, but Morgan Gibbs-White has been key to all of that so they really need him to be available after his horrific head injury. My other worry with Forest is how much Thursday’s Europa League semi-final with Aston Villa will take out of them – but at the same time I am not sure Newcastle can take advantage even if they are tired.”
I think fair to say that the United win over Brighton wasn’t a free flowing football all dominant one.
At the same time though, I think it was where Newcastle showed a lot of character and determination. I also think that across the full match Eddie Howe’s team did deserve the victory, three well taken goals as well.
Chris Sutton adding: “The Magpies’ win over Brighton was much-needed for their boss Eddie Howe but it was far from convincing. All things considered, this will probably end up in a draw.”
There has been a definite improvement these last two matches and Newcastle United didn’t deserve to lose at Arsenal in their last away game.
No surprise that the return of Bruno Guimaraes to the starting eleven has coincided with these two far better performances. Joelinton was back for the Brighton game after two matches suspended and Anthony Gordon should now be available to start if selected, after his injury.
With Forest having a number of players missing, plus having had to play twice in the last six days whilst Newcastle have had eight days between matches, no reason why United can’t make it five away wins in a row at the City Ground under Eddie Howe.