Paul Merson has predicted Newcastle United’s clash against Cardiff City will end as a 1-1 draw when the two sides meet on Saturday.
The Sky Sports pundit revealed that he thought it would be a difficult encounter for the Magpies and that they must ensure they don’t lose this one after Tottenham defeated them 2-1 last Saturday.
Merson stated that while it may still be early in the season that this was a massive game for both sides.
“This is a massive football match, even so early in the season, Cardiff failed to score at Bournemouth, who let in goals for fun, but I think this will be a hard game for Newcastle,” wrote the pundit in his predictions for Sky Sports’ website.
“Newcastle lost at home to Tottenham and they need to make sure they don’t lose this one, too.”
OPINION
Well Merson doesn’t exactly have a lot of faith in the Magpies even though they submitted a decent performance against Tottenham last weekend. Given that this Premier League clash is set to air on Sky Sports perhaps the pundit is just trying to hype the clash up by ramping up the pressure on the Magpies and stating that it’s a massive fixture. It’s bizarre that Merson is already worrying about the Magpies losing their clash to Cardiff as they should go into the fixture with a lot of confidence following their latest performance. While Rafa Benitez may be disappointed that his side didn’t get a point from their clash with Spurs, there’s no shame in losing to a side filled with fantastic talents who will be competing for a top-six finish in the Premier League this season. While Merson has played it safe by suggesting that Saturday’s game will end as a 1-1 draw, the Magpies should have enough to take all three points from their travels as if they replicate last weekend’s performance.
