Well, Newcastle's season
has come down to a must win home tie to
fellow strugglers Fulham today. It has
been a terrible season for the Magpies,
the optimism of the return of Keegan has
now completely changed into one of
almost horror, as they find themselves
only four points off the relegation
zone, and a fall into the Championship
will cause major upheavals on Tyneside.
Things simply do not seem to be right
with the Newcastle team at the moment
with players under performing or they
may simply be 'past it'. Michael Owen,
who Keegan publicly came out and said
this week was still World Class', is in
my eyes not the player he once was and
the midfield of Butt and Barton aren't
exactly the most productive.
That said,
Newcastle will have been happy (and
relieved) after securing a 1-1 draw with
Birmingham last Monday, which was the
teams first point in five games. They
now face a Fulham side who gave
themselves a huge boost by beating
Everton at the Cottage last week.
 Fulham
still find themselves second from bottom in
the Premiership, but they will have quiet
optimism coming into this game after
securing the three points last week.
Although they have an appalling away record,
things have picked up for the Cottagers
recently, with two draws (Blackburn 1-1,
Bolton 0-0) and two close defeats (1-0 Boro,
2-1 West Ham) in their last four away
fixtures. This is a huge game for both
clubs, if Newcastle win it will move them
away from the relegation zone and give the
club a massive lift, while if Fulham win,
they could leap frog Bolton and bring
Newcastle closer to the dreaded relegation
trapdoor.
The bookies have priced the Newcastle
home win @ 10/11, the draw is 12/5 while the
away win is 3/1.
This is a very difficult game to predict as
both these sides have enormous pressure on
them at the moment, and both will be
desperate not to lose.
Bet365 offer a
free £100
bet on this game and I'm
prepared to eat humble pie and go with
Michael Owen to score anytime at 5/4.
I have been one of Owen's big critics in
recent months, and am still waiting for him
to justify his £110,000 a week wages, but in
all honesty he looks the more likely player
to score for Newcastle at the moment.
He had three great chances against
Birmingham last week, and he finally took
one to score, and this game is set up for
him to become a hero on Tyneside. Lets face it, Mark Viduka looks like a
players who's sitting on a pile of money and
looks very lethargic, but he can create
opportunities for players like Owen to latch
on to. I'm not
saying Newcastle will win, but I'm prepared
to wager that the little man from Anfield
will have a big say as to who goes down this
year.
Newcastle to draw but Owen to find the net.
© Free-Bets.uk 2008
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