Fresh from claiming us Newcastle fans ‘expect to win the Champions League’, Mark Lawrenson has shared his prediction for Saturday’s clash with West Brom – and it’s good news if he proves to be correct.
The former Match of the Day pundit is backing us to not only win, but win comfortably, with him going for a 2-0 home win.
As he explains below, he fears West Brom’s defensive frailties will see them crumble once again after being anything but impressed by the way they collapsed in that 1-5 defeat to Crystal Palace last weekend.
Here’s what he told the BBC when asked for his prediction:
I thought the decision to send off West Brom midfielder Mattheus Pereira against Crystal Palace was very harsh, but the way the Baggies collapsed afterwards was a concern.
The score was 1-1 when Pereira was dismissed and West Brom reorganised to see the end of the first half out – but then they were all over the place at the back after the break.
It was far too easy for Palace to score their four goals in the second half, and defending like that makes me think Newcastle will manage a couple too.
Lawro’s prediction: 2-0
Considering how bad our preparations have been, combined with the fact we’ll forced to play without several first-team players, his comments (or lack of them) suggest he’s forgotten there’s been a Covid outbreak at Newcastle United over the past two weeks!
Although West Brom are second bottom, conceding goals for fun and without star man Mattheus Pereira this weekend, I don’t think it’ll be plain sailing for us.
If we’d been able to train as normal and had a fully fit squad then I’d back us to win, but with Bruce’s squad decimated by Covid since our win at Crystal Palace, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a disjointed display featuring several square pegs in round holes.
That said, we may still have enough to win if the Baggies play as badly as they did in defeat to Palace last weekend!
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