Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted that Newcastle United will share the spoils when they take on Huddersfield Town at the John Smith’s Stadium on Saturday.
The Magpies come off the back of a 2-1 defeat to Wolves in their clash on Sunday, while Huddersfield come into this fixture having narrowly lost 1-0 to Arsenal on the same day.
Merson has predicted that United will share the points in a 1-1 draw this weekend, naming the match as “massive” for both sides based on how tight everything is at the bottom of the Premier League.
“Wow. What a game this is. Last week was a kick in the teeth for Newcastle, having a player sent off and then losing with the last kick of the game against Wolves, after going to Everton and riding your luck for a point,” he told Sky Sports.
“This is a massive game. It’ll be nervy, so I’m going for a low-scoring draw. It’s so tight at the bottom and you can’t rule anyone in or out at the moment.”
OPINION
Newcastle are certainly not riding their luck at the moment, so it is no surprise that Merson has gone for a low-scoring draw here. The Terriers are often a resilient team who can be tough to break down, so it is likely there will not be many goals from either side. The Magpies have looked down in the dumps ever since they lost 3-0 to West Ham a few weeks ago and you cannot help but think that they are low on confidence. Having had a brilliant run prior to that game, the players may have got complacent when they faced the Irons that day. Hopefully they have learned their lesson as they could really do with a win here, but in order to do that, they need to get balls into Salomon Rondon – otherwise they do not stand much of a chance in the slightest. Time for them to bounce back after their “kick in the teeth.”
