On Saturday, 2nd February, as part of the 27th round of the EPL, Newcastle will host Wolverhampton. The teams met just over four months ago and drew 2:2 at Molineux, and now only one position and one point separate them in the league table.
Newcastle: Dubravka; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Miley; Almiron, Isak, Gordon.
Wolverhampton: Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, Lemina, Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Bellegarde, Sarabia, Neto.
The face-off will be held in Newcastle at St James Park.
Disappointing fans this season, Newcastle currently occupy only the 10th position in the Premier League table, and it needs to improve results to qualify for the European competitions. After a series of failures, the ‘Magpies’ have gone four rounds without a defeat in the league (2 wins and 2 draws). Unfortunately, last weekend, Eddie Howe's charges were smashed by Arsenal at the Emirates with a score of 4:1.
Anthony Gordon put the stripes ahead in the 71st minute, but only eight minutes later Sammy Schmodiche restored parity; the penalty shootout hero was goalkeeper Martin Dubravka who repelled two shots from the 'Rovers' players. It's important to underline that the team from the north of England failed to win any of their last four matches at St. James Park (two draws and two losses). Last week, Newcastle had to put in no small effort to defeat Blackburn away in the 1/8 finals of the FA Cup (1:1, victory on penalties).
At the moment, Wolverhampton occupies the 9th position in the overall Premier League standings and is one point ahead of the coming opponents. Depending on who wins the FA Cup, a ticket to the European competitions still remains a possibility. It should be said that the 'Wolves' are currently on a surge and have won 6 of their last 9 EPL encounters, drawn once and lost twice. After defeat to Brentford (0:2), the visitors resumed their winning ways in London, defeating Tottenham (1:2), and then toppled Sheffield United (1:0) last weekend – all thanks to an accurate strike from Pablo Sarabia.
Already last Wednesday, Gary O'Neil's wards made their way to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the third time this century, triumphing over Brighton at home thanks to an early goal by Mario Lemina. Only Man City (26), Liverpool (23), Arsenal (22) and Tottenham (20) have garnered more points in the EPL than the 'Wolves' (19) in the last 10 rounds.
The 'Wolves' have won only two of the last 12 matches in all competitions against Newcastle, and their last victory at St. James Park took place back in December 2018 (1:2).
O'Neil's charges have been in great stride recently and have deservedly overtaken the 'Magpies' on the league table. The hosts had a tough time defeating Blackburn in the county's Cup in mid-week, and still can't count on some of their injured leaders. Considering their current form, we’re confidently putting our money on the guests not to lose.
Considering that in 16 of the last 17 face-to-face meetings in the Premier League between Newcastle and Wolverhampton, there was a goal exchange, it’s logical to expect a similar scenario on Saturday.
Newcastle delivers about 4.7 corners per match while the 'Wolves' deliver around 4.3. Both have a number of high-ball players, so I predict a Total Corners bet over 8.5.
The guests have accumulated about 2.6 yellow cards per game and certainly won't hold back in duels with their direct competitor for a potential ticket to the European championships. It seems like a solid bet that the 'Wolves' will hold their ground in terms of yellow cards.
My bet is on the exact score of 1:2 in favour of Wolverhampton.
# | Team | P | W | D | L | GD | G | PTS | |
1 | Liverpool | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 19:6 | 25 | |
2 | Manchester City | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 21:11 | 23 | |
3 | Nottingham | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 14:7 | 19 | |
4 | Chelsea | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 20:12 | 18 | |
5 | Arsenal | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 17:11 | 18 | |
6 | Aston Villa | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 17:15 | 18 | |
7 | Tottenham | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 22:11 | 16 | |
8 | Brighton | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 17:14 | 16 | |
9 | Fulham | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 14:13 | 15 | |
10 | Bournemouth | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 13:12 | 15 | |
11 | Newcastle | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10:10 | 15 | |
12 | Brentford | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | -1 | 19:20 | 13 | |
13 | Manchester Utd | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 9:12 | 12 | |
14 | West Ham | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | -6 | 13:19 | 11 | |
15 | Leicester | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | -4 | 14:18 | 10 | |
16 | Everton | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -7 | 10:17 | 9 | |
17 | Crystal Palace | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -5 | 8:13 | 7 | |
18 | Ipswich | 10 | 0 | 5 | 5 | -11 | 10:21 | 5 | |
19 | Southampton | 10 | 1 | 1 | 8 | -12 | 7:19 | 4 | |
20 | Wolves | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | -13 | 14:27 | 3 | |
1 | Manchester City | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 12:6 | 13 | |
2 | Brentford | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15:9 | 13 | |
3 | Liverpool | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9:3 | 12 | |
4 | Tottenham | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15:4 | 12 | |
5 | Arsenal | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 12:6 | 11 | |
6 | Fulham | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9:7 | 10 | |
7 | Bournemouth | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8:4 | 10 | |
8 | Newcastle | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5:3 | 10 | |
9 | Brighton | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9:7 | 9 | |
10 | Nottingham | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6:3 | 8 | |
11 | Chelsea | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8:7 | 8 | |
12 | Aston Villa | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7:6 | 8 | |
13 | Manchester Utd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4:8 | 7 | |
14 | West Ham | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8:10 | 6 | |
15 | Leicester | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:7 | 5 | |
16 | Everton | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:8 | 5 | |
17 | Crystal Palace | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3:5 | 5 | |
18 | Southampton | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4:8 | 4 | |
19 | Ipswich | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4:8 | 3 | |
20 | Wolves | 5 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7:14 | 1 | |
1 | Liverpool | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10:3 | 13 | |
2 | Nottingham | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8:4 | 11 | |
3 | Manchester City | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9:5 | 10 | |
4 | Chelsea | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12:5 | 10 | |
5 | Aston Villa | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10:9 | 10 | |
6 | Arsenal | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5:5 | 7 | |
7 | Brighton | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8:7 | 7 | |
8 | Fulham | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:6 | 5 | |
9 | Bournemouth | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:8 | 5 | |
10 | Newcastle | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:7 | 5 | |
11 | Manchester Utd | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:4 | 5 | |
12 | West Ham | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5:9 | 5 | |
13 | Leicester | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9:11 | 5 | |
14 | Tottenham | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7:7 | 4 | |
15 | Everton | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5:9 | 4 | |
16 | Crystal Palace | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5:8 | 2 | |
17 | Ipswich | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6:13 | 2 | |
18 | Wolves | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7:13 | 2 | |
19 | Brentford | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4:11 | 0 | |
20 | Southampton | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3:11 | 0 |
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