'Wouldn't be surprised' - Chris Sutton and Paul Merson disagree on Newcastle vs Leeds United result
Leeds United head to St James' Park this evening for another difficult Premier League away-day.
Chris Sutton has predicted Leeds United’s unbeaten run will come to an end at Newcastle United this evening.
Leeds have gone seven games without tasting defeat as Daniel Farke’s switch to a 3-5-2 formation continues to get the best out of his side. The Whites drew 1-1 at home to Manchester United last time out and have also taken solid points from difficult away games at Brentford, Sunderland and Brentford.
Newcastle, however, have won their last two Premier League matches and gone 11 games without defeat at St James’ Park. The Magpies have endured an inconsistent campaign so far but appear to be finding their feet, having recently climbed into the top half of the Premier League table.
Eddie Howe’s side carved out a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace last weekend and former striker Sutton has predicted a repeat of that scoreline. Although he wouldn’t be surprised if Leeds scored, with one man the obvious candidate.
In his predictions Column for BBC Sport, Sutton said: “Newcastle not only got three points against Palace at the weekend, they kept their first clean sheet in the league since the start of October. Leeds have gone seven games unbeaten, including a deserved draw in the north-east against Sunderland, and they will be full of confidence.
“These two sides drew 0-0 at Elland Road in August but there will definitely be goals this time. I always back Newcastle at home, so why should I change now? The only thing I'm unsure about here is whether Leeds will score. I'm going to say they won't, so stand by for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to find the net again, probably in stoppage time.”
Paul Merson’s Newcastle vs Leeds United prediction
Few would have predicted anything other than defeat for Leeds in this game a couple of months ago but they’ve proven very difficult to beat in recent weeks. Those three away draws saw just two goals go beyond Lucas Perri and rarely was he called upon to make an outstanding save either.
Leeds are likely to set up in similarly stubborn fashion but with fixtures piling up and Newcastle in decent form, Paul Merson expects Farke’s side to concede a couple. Fortunately, he’s predicted they score a couple too with the spoils shared at St James’ Park.
“Leeds are doing really well,” Merson told Sportskeeda, predicting a 2-2 draw. “They're nicking points in difficult games when West Ham are failing to win easier matches. It's a huge boost to Leeds' aspirations of avoiding relegation.
“Newcastle weren't great the other day. Even though they won 2-0 against Crystal Palace, I wasn't really impressed by the performance. I was surprised that Nick Woltemade did not come off the bench quicker in that game. Newcastle were up against a back three and he would have been useful from the start.
“Considering the way both teams are playing, I wouldn't be surprised if Leeds got something out of this game. I'm going for an entertaining draw here.”