England Premier League
Saturday 6th August 2022
Kick off at 3pm BST
Venue: St. James' Park
Match Preview:
Much has been made about Newcastle’s takeover last season and the cash injected into the club quickly worked its magic with the Magpies going from the bottom three to finishing in 11th place. This is phase one for the club and manager Eddie Howe will understand that Newcastle’s owners will want to see more concrete results and the club advancing up the table this season. Perhaps no one is really mentioning it but you get the sense that the owners will want the club to be finishing in a European place this season.
For all the money that Newcastle have it could be argued that so far their summer transfer window has felt like a let down. About £70m has been spent but there has not been a mass of known world class players who have joined. Instead the Magpies spent £35m on Sven Botman from Lille. The Dutchman is a gamble but he could go either way in defence. Matt Targett has been brought in for £15m from Aston Villa and he comes with plenty of Premier League experience. Nick Pope has come in for £10m from relegated Burnley but the emphasis on buys has been on defence so far for Howe’s side.
Pre-season has seen goals and Newcastle have converted 14 of them in their last five games. This includes scoring 9 goals past Burnley in two games, and in their last two matches they beat Atlanta and Athletic Bilbao at home.
Nottingham Forest are historically one of the biggest clubs in English football but they haven’t graced the top flight since 1999, so this is an incredibly big deal for the club to be back playing Premier League football.
Manager Steve Cooper has been gaining a lot of respect in the game over the past few years and from 45 games managed in charge of Forest he has lost just 8 times and has an impressive win rate of 60%. Interestingly Forest have spent more than Newcastle so far bringing in the likes of Neco Williams from Liverpool and Taiwo Awoniyi has cost the club in the region of £17m. Jesse Lingard has signed a one year lucrative contract with the club also as he was released from Manchester United and he should add a wealth of experience for the club.
In pre-season the majority of their games finished in draws but their last friendly at home ended in an impressive 1-1 draw against Valencia.
Team News:
Newcastle: Jonjo Shelvey is a major doubt with a hamstring injury.
Nottingham Forest: Omar Richards is Forest’s only concern with a leg injury which could see him miss the first two months of the season.
Newcastle vs Nottm Forest Head to Head:
Nottingham Forest have won the last 2 meetings between the clubs, both in the Carabao Cup.
The last league game to take place at Newcastle was in 2016 and playing in the Championship the Magpies won 3-1.
There have been 23 goals scored in the last 5 meetings.
Newcastle vs Nottm Forest Prediction:
Newcastle have the players to win this game and being at home and it being the first game of the season there should be quite a joyous atmosphere at St James’ Park. This is a difficult first game for Forest and they will dig in- manager Cooper likes his teams to keep possession of the ball. But Newcastle have the attacking players to cause many problems here and their first team is fit for this one. Newcastle’s game plan is to start the season quick and get the points on the board and kick on from there and there shouldn’t be many excuses as to why the Magpies won’t pick up three points here.
It’s also possible that the occasion, and it will be an emotional one for Forest could get the better of them and it might be worth backing a red card to be seen for the away side in a game which should be wave after wave of attacks from the home side. For us this looks like a home win.
Newcastle vs Nottm Forest Betting Tips:
Newcastle to beat Nottingham Forest at 1.62
Anytime goalscorer: Callum Wilson at 2.10
Player to be sent off at 5.00
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