Paul Merson has predicted that Newcastle United will lose when they welcome Burnley to St. James’ Park on Wednesday evening.
Newcastle are coming off a run of two losses, the most recent being a 3-0 defeat by Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round at the weekend.
That was preceded by a 3-1 loss to league leaders Manchester City, which left the Magpies in 15th place in the Premier League table.
Opponents Burnley are having an impressive season so far, currently sitting in eighth, but the Clarets have suffered a drop in form recently including three straight losses that has seen Leicester leap above them in the table.
However, in his Sky Sports predictions Merson predicts a damaging 1-0 defeat for the Magpies. He said: “This is another massive football match. Newcastle went out of the cup at the weekend so it’s another year without a trophy. They’ll be under pressure to bounce back against Burnley at St James’ Park.
“Burnley have hit a bit of a brick wall of late. Their results have started to level out after what was an unbelievable start to the season. However, I thought they were very unlucky against United and could have even sneaked a draw. With another performance like that, I’m backing them to sneak a win.”
OPINION
Burnley are the form team when you look at the table, but this is a game that could go either way. The Magpies have had a disastrous January window and will be looking to bounce back from that with an important three points that will go a long way to securing their safety. New signing Kenedy will most likely make his debut for the club against the Clarets, and he will provide some much-needed impetus down the left flank.