Mark Lawrenson has predicted that Newcastle United will win 2-1 against Wolves at St James’ Park on Sunday.
Steve Bruce’s side goes into their upcoming Premier League fixture off the back of a respectable 1-0 defeat away at Chelsea last week but could face Wolves without key defender Fabian Schar.
Although the impressive Switzerland international might not be available, Lawrenson has tipped the Magpies to pick up their third win of the season, suggesting that Wolves’ Europa League exploits could play a role in the result.
“Wolves had not won any of their first four games on a Sunday this season, then they went and won at Manchester City after their longest trip in the Europa League, to Turkey to play Besiktas,” said Lawrenson on the BBC Sport website.
“They go to Slovakia before they go to St James’ Park, where they grabbed a controversial late win against 10 men on their last visit, in December 2018.
“Newcastle owe them one, and I think they will come out on top here – just.”
OPINION
If Wolves could go to Manchester City after a trip to Turkey and win 2-0, then there’s a good chance that their trip to Slovakia on Thursday will have no bearing on the result at St James’ Park this weekend. Yes, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side has had to do a lot of travelling and it’s not as though the West Midlands club has a big squad either. However they are a closely-knit bunch that Nuno is regularly getting the best out of his squad, so they will by no means roll over on Tyneside this weekend. As for Newcastle, to be without Schar is a huge blow if the Swiss centre-back is injured. Schar has arguably been Newcastle’s best player this season in the heart of Bruce’s back-line, so replacing him could cause a problem. Newcastle need big games from Joelinton and Miguel Almiron too if they want to get a win here. Neither of them have done enough lately, especially Almiron, who is yet to score a goal or supply an assist for Newcastle since January.
