Kick-off: 1500, 20/11/2021
Stadium: St James’ Park
Newcastle cannot just wait until January signings arrive to step up their relegation fight and new manager Eddie Howe will be desperate to make a winning start at St James’ Park.
His first three home matches in charge are against fellow strugglers Brentford, Norwich and Burnley so Howe has an early chance to get the Toon Army onside.
With the home support lifted by the recent takeover and Howe’s appointment, a Magpies win at 8/5 is our opening Newcastle vs Brentford prediction.
Newcastle Odds
The final international break of the year is over and Newcastle are still winless this season so Howe can waste little time in improving their fortunes.
Co-owner Amanda Staveley has promised Howe significant funds to spend once the transfer window opens and believes the success he enjoyed at Bournemouth showed he is the right man for the job.
“We had to have someone leading the club who was not frightened of relegation,” said Staveley.
“Obviously he has had an incredible impact on Bournemouth and I think we were impressed with the fact he’s done all that on quite limited resources.
“It’s very easy to win trophies if you’ve got a lot of money, or a lot of infrastructure or a lot of people. But when you are limited by those factors, his success really shone out.”
Howe will need to get the best out of a limited squad again but there appear to be plenty of goals in this team.
A 1-1 draw at Brighton last time out, with Howe watching in the stand ahead of his appointment being confirmed, was an encouraging result at least and Newcastle have found the net in nine of their 11 matches.
They remain without a clean sheet, though, and both teams to score in the first half appeals at 18/5 in the Newcastle vs Brentford odds.
Last Newcastle line-up: Darlow, Clark, Lascelles, Krafth, Shelvey, Ritchie, Hayden, Murphy, Almiron, Wilson, Saint-Maximin.
Goalkeeper Martin Dubravka made his first appearance since suffering a foot injury during the summer in Slovakia’s 6-0 World Cup qualifier victory in Malta on Sunday and is now pushing Karl Darlow for a return to the Magpies starting line-up.
Paraguay frontman Miguel Almiron was due to return from international duty on Friday, while defender Paul Dummett remains the only man on the casualty list with a long-term calf problem.
Brentford Odds
The international break may have come at a good time for Brentford and given them the chance to regroup after a run of four straight defeats.
While losing to Chelsea and Leicester was perhaps to be expected, defeats at Burnley and at home to Norwich are more of a concern, although not for punters who backed any of our three winning tips for the Norwich game!
The momentum from a fine start to life in the Premier League has been lost but coach Thomas Frank is not worried by recent performances.
“One thing’s for sure, we played well in three of the last four games we lost,” he said.
“I hate losing. My body is burning inside. But when we perform as we have done there is no need to change the system.
“If we keep going like this then by the law of statistics we will be fine.”
Both teams will believe this is a match they can realistically win and that should lead to an open contest.
For our final Newcastle vs Brentford prediction, let’s take 5/1 for two or more goals to be scored in both halves.
Last Brentford line-up: Fernandez, Henry, Pinnock, Jansson, Jorgensen, Norgaard, Jensen, Mbeumo, Janelt, Canos, Toney.
Mathias Jensen is available after spending the international break in quarantine after testing positive for Covid.
Fellow midfielder Yoane Wissa is edging closer to rejoining the squad after a month out with an ankle problem while central defender Mathias Jorgensen faces a late fitness test. Shandon Baptiste is in contention for a squad place after six weeks out with a dislocated shoulder.
Additional Newcastle vs Brentford stats
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