Paul Merson speaking about Newcastle United.
NUFC with exactly five weeks of the season now remaining.
Eddie Howe and his Newcastle United players now with six matches to go.
A very intense season with Newcastle having played almost every midweek, due to Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup, as well as Premier League.
Now of course, only the Premier League to fully concentrate on, with these six games on six separate weekends.
Eddie Howe and his team preparing for their next match. A 3pm kick-off on Saturday, at home to Bournemouth.
Paul Merson discussing how things now stand for Newcastle United as they prepare for this St James’ Park clash.
Excellent Premier League victories against Man U and Chelsea, then followed by very disappointing defeats to Sunderland and Palace despite taking the lead both times.
Paul Merson declaring to Sportskeeda: “Newcastle are struggling at the moment. They are not playing well at all! If Bournemouth play like they did against Arsenal, they can easily win this game. I expect Newcastle to have a go here. They are playing at home and they need to put on a show for their fans. Bournemouth are a team that don’t mess around either. I don’t expect them to sit back against Newcastle so this could be an entertaining game. We saw Bournemouth take the game to Arsenal last weekend and we will see that here too. I’m predicting a thrilling draw.”
As Paul Merson points to, last weekend’s win at Arsenal sums up how dangerous Bournemouth can be.
The Cherries haven’t lost a single Premier League game these past three and a half months, so Newcastle United will do well to beat them.
Bournemouth had five draws immediately before their win at Arsenal and three of those were goalless draws, so Saturday might not be the goal-fest Paul Merson is imagining, as he predicts a 2-2 draw.
Turning his thoughts to the wider situation at St James’ Park, Paul Merson stating: “Eddie Howe is still the right man to be leading Newcastle. He helped them win a trophy last season. Sometimes, we tend to overlook the work he’s done at the club. If they let him go, he won’t be without a job for too long and that says everything about his quality! I’m shocked whenever I hear rumours about Newcastle wanting to part ways with Howe. He’s good, just stick with him. “