Paul Merson has predicted that Newcastle United will not be able to overcome Watford to progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Magpies welcome the Hornets to St James’ Park in this fourth round fixture, which comes off the back of a hard-fought 4-2 third round replay victory over Blackburn last week.
However, despite United sealing the win the last time the two sides met, the Sky Sports pundit reckons that it will be Javi Garcia’s team who come out on top here – and has called upon Rafa Benitez to focus on this tie instead of their next Premier League match against Manchester City.
“In my opinion Newcastle should write off their next game against Manchester City and go all out in this one. The loyal Newcastle fans know their football – they will be thinking the same. This is a great opportunity for a cup run,” he said in his predicitions for Sky Sports.
“If they get Doncaster in the next round then they are in the quarter-finals. Maybe Rafa Benitez should start thinking of what the fans want? I’m not sure he will see it that way. Watford are a tough team – they played well at St James’ earlier this season. I will go away win.”
OPINION
This clash is bound to be a close one when you look back at the tight results between the two sides already this season. However, it is does not make sense why Merson has urged Newcastle to focus on having a cup run instead of survival in the Premier League. Just because they recorded a resounding win over Cardiff last weekend, that by no means indicates that they are safe. If anything, the last thing they should be doing is writing off their game against City. Despite the fact that Newcastle have an outside chance of winning, there is no harm in trying than not trying. Surely staying in the top-flight means more to the fans than staying in the FA Cup for a long time? That is not to say that United should not try to win this match – they obviously should – they just do not need to prioritise one competition over the other. Merson has predicted an away win for Watford, but it would not be a surprise if this game had to go to a replay.
