Newcastle to buck their away day blues
Newcastle travel to the south coast this weekend looking to pick up their first away win since December and it might just happen…here’s why:
Building confidence at St James’ Park
Newcastle have had a really poor season on the road, only winning once in 14 attempts and that was at rock bottom Huddersfield.
The Magpies have been suffering the kind of home sickness that can pull you into a relegation battle faster than hiring Alan Pardew mid-season. The saving grace for Rafa’s boys has been their excellent home form, especially recently.
Three wins in the last four games have all come at St James’ Park and, although, travelling is a different kettle of fish entirely, momentum is a wonderful thing.
Five straight home wins that included victories over Everton and Premier League leaders, Manchester City plus three clean-sheets during that run, will give Newcastle a massive psychological boost. They head south full of confidence, probably at the highest levels it has been all season.
Getting better
Although the last five away trips have only brought Benitez’ side two points from a possible 15 the performances have actually been ok. Defeats by a single goal to both Tottenham and Chelsea are by no means an embarrassment and draws at Watford and Wolves shouldn’t be sniffed at.
The defeat by West Ham aside, Newcastle have not looked far off the pace in their last five away games and it will be a case of simply building on that for the Magpies.
Taking their chances
Bournemouth are no soft touch at home. The only sides to take three points from the Vitality Stadium this season are Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United – not a bad group of teams for sure.
If Newcastle are going to come away with maximum points then they will need to take their chances.
In the last four games the Magpies have created a massive 37 goal scoring chances, an average of 9.25 per game.
This is a good sign of the form Rafa’s men are in and will put them in good stead to get a win on Saturday.
King Salomon
Newcastle fans are really taking to Salomon Rondon this season with the big striker already netting nine times for the club in the Premier League. In the last four games the Venezuelan has been directly involved in four goals (two goals, two assists) and if he can maintain this rich vein of form then it will be all smiles in the North East this weekend.
Betting tip
Given Newcastle’s improvement over the last few games, especially at home, odds of 29/10 look like a pretty solid bet for an away win at the Vitality Stadium this weekend.
Post bet chat James's Tips:
Newcastle failed to get that elusive away win but a decent display on the road saw them pick up a point in a 2-2 draw to continue their improvement of late.