Newcastle United got their first points on the board for the 2019-20 Premier League season against Tottenham last weekend, thanks to a goal from summer signing Joelinton, and stubborn defending by the Magpies backline.
Steve Bruce’s side will next welcome Watford to St. James’ Park on Saturday, a side who are currently at the bottom of the league table.
The home side go into this match as the slight favourites, and here are 3 reasons why Newcastle United will beat Watford:
Newcastle United vs Watford: 3 Reasons Why The Magpies Will Win
Watford’s poor form
Watford have had a terrible start to the Premier League season, continuing their poor form from the end of last season. In fact, the Hornets’ last win in the league came way back in April, when they narrowly defeated Huddersfield Town.
Javi Gracia’s team have lost their last six games in the Premier League – the last three games of last season and the first three games of this season.
They have only scored one goal this season, which came in last weekend’s defeat against West Ham United.
What makes matters worse for the club is that two of the three games they have played this season have been at home, where they have conceded six goals in total.
Newcastle United’s solid backline
Newcastle United looked solid defensively against both Arsenal and Tottenham, despite losing narrowly against the Gunners. They were soundly beaten by Norwich City and Teemu Pukki, but got their defensive structure in order against Spurs, who had a lot of the ball but were not able to penetrate the Magpies’ defence.
Led by captain Jamaal Lascelles and central defender Fabian Schär, Steve Bruce’s men have a good chance of inflicting Watford’s fourth defeat of the season as the Hornets have been poor in front of goal and have lacked ideas.
Newcastle’s solid defence will allow them to hurt Watford on the break come Saturday.
Joelinton’s good showing last time around
A lot was expected of club-record signing Joelinton, who was brought in to replace the goals of Ayoze Perez and Salomón Rondón, who scored 25 goals between them last season.
The Brazilian striker, who will need to be given time to fit into the Newcastle side and adapt to the Premier League, impressed in the win against Spurs, by scoring the only goal, as well as showing great work-rate in attack and defence.
The striker was good in the air defensively, while he also made the second-most passes in the Newcastle team in the Spurs game.
The 23-year-old will have better opportunities against a porous Watford backline, while playing in front of the home fans will give him more confidence as well.