Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted a final day stalemate for Newcastle United as the Magpies face Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Newcastle will be looking to end their campaign on a positive note and continue their improvement in the second half of the season despite doubts surrounding the future of manager Rafa Benitez.
Fulham will also want to build on an encouraging end to a season that has ended in relegation.
Merson cannot pick a winner between the two sides though and has predicted them to share the spoils in a 2-2 draw.
“I hope Scott Parker gets the Fulham job. They’ve shown a bit of respectability towards the end, they’ve had a plan at least, and Newcastle are a team who are hard to play against at the moment as we saw on Saturday night. I think both of them will have a go,” Merson wrote on the Sky Sports website.
OPINION
A draw, as Merson suggests, maybe the most likely outcome for this fixture, with both sides not wanting to the end the season with successive Premier League defeats. Both sides lost last weekend, Newcastle 3-2 at home to title chasing Liverpool, and Fulham losing 1-0 at Wolves. There is also a potential question mark about the respective futures about both teams managers as the season reaches it’s ending, Benitez is wanting Newcastle’s board to show more ambition in the transfer market if he to remain in charge at St James’ Park. Fulham’s Scott Parker, who was named in caretaker charge until the end of the season after replacing Claudio Ranieri, and has overseen a recent up turn in form for his side, but could not prevent the London side from being relegated. A draw would give both sides a reasonable end to the season, with more pressing matters and concerns to attend over the summer before the start of next season.
