Newcastle vs. Brentford — Eddie Howe: Match Preview

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Newcastle United return to St James’ Park on Saturday evening to face Brentford in a must-win match for Eddie Howe to keep his seat cool and for the Geordies to keep alive that one-percent-chance hope

of still making the Champions League by finishing inside the top five.

Newcastle come into the match after crashing out of the Carabao Cup in embarrassing fashion, losing 5-1 on aggregate to Manchester City and probably missing out on their only realistic chance at silverware this season. On top of that the Magpies have not won a game in their last four matches across all competitions, which is rather concerning.

A 4-1 league defeat at Liverpool last weekend left Howe’s side 11th in the table, six points off the top six with 14 games remaining. They have taken the majority of their league points at home this season but lost their most recent league fixture at St James’ Park against Aston Villa.

Injuries remain an issue. Anthony Gordon has been ruled out with a hamstring problem, while Bruno Guimaraes and Lewis Miley are game-time decisions after missing midweek. Joelinton, Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar and Emil Krafth remain unavailable.

Brentford looks like a soft opponent coming off back-to-back affairs with behemoths Man City and Liverpool, but the Bees arrive sitting four places above NUFC in the table, seventh, after a 1-0 win at Aston Villa despite playing with 10 men for over a half.

They have taken 16 points from their last eight league matches and beat Newcastle 3-1 in the reverse fixture in November. Kevin Schade is suspended, while Fabio Carvalho, Antoni Milambo and Josh Dasilva remain out.

A win and some favorable results elsewhere around the Premier League’s matchday could see Newcastle climb all the way up to seventh. A draw or a loss, however, if paired with the worst-case-scenario results, might knock NUFC down to 13th in the standings.

Here are some of Howe’s Wisdom Nuggets, courtesy of NUFC.co.uk

On Gordon’s fitness…
“No major update on Anthony. (There is) every chance he’ll miss this game coming up at the weekend but we hope it’s not a serious injury and he’ll be back pretty soon.”

On Guimaraes and Miley’s recoveries…
“Bruno’s getting closer. He did a training session on Wednesday when we were travelling. He felt pretty good, so I’ll see him today and fingers crossed he’ll be fit.

“We’ll find out today (about Miley). I’m awaiting an update on him but again it’s not a serious injury and we hope he’ll be back very soon.”

On Anthony Elanga…
“He’s done a load of good things that could have led to goals so I was really pleased he got that reward of the goal – it was a great goal as well.

“I was delighted for him, and hopefully that’s the start of many. It will also be a lift in his belief for himself and what he can contribute. There’s no doubting his ability – (it was) a really good thing for him.”

On being back at home…
“It’s a big week coming up. We need real focus on these next two games – Brentford at home and Tottenham away, two good games.

“Being back at home after several away games is more than welcome, so it will be a nice feeling for us on Saturday.”

On United’s recent run of form…
“Losing is such a difficult feeling. You have to deal with the defeat, put it where you need to put it and learn from it. We’re trying to do that in a quick turnaround while acknowledging the strengths of our performances and also the areas we need to improve.

“The main thing is the players entering the next game in a positive frame of mind. That’s so important, so how we deal with each defeat we’ve had in the last week has been crucial to our success going forward.”

Howay!