Newcastle gearing up for Fulham test

Daniel Wales and Joe Buck preview Newcastle United vs. Fulham.

Transcript

00:00Next fixture for Newcastle is back at St James' Park against Fulham, who have had a decent enough season.

00:07They did get beaten by Manchester United at the weekend, though, which is probably quite a disappointing result for Marco Silva's side,

00:14actually, given how well they've played against other sides this campaign.

00:17So for Newcastle, I think it's very much a case of just putting the Bournemouth Blues behind them and getting another win.

00:24I know obviously we say this, but it is just the case where the league is so competitive around those European spots,

00:30where every three points, every win, every victory matters so much now.

00:34Yes, Fulham are a good side, but it's a team that Newcastle need to just show their quality against, isn't it?

00:40Absolutely, especially at home. They haven't had a brilliant record at home this year compared to previous seasons,

00:44but they need to just get back, again, what we said last week, just get another win on the board.

00:51Their performance at Fulham back in September was probably their worst of the season.

00:55I don't think they've played worse than that over 90 minutes.

00:58I include Bournemouth in that. Bournemouth were just much better than them on that day.

01:01Fulham were better than Newcastle on that day, but Newcastle were really bad.

01:04So they'll want to put that right, but they'll have nothing to fear against Fulham.

01:07As you say, they're a good team that can cause you problems.

01:09They've got good players. Someone like Emile Smith-Rowe had a field day against them last time,

01:13but at home they would fancy themselves to get that win.

01:16If they can't get that win against a good team, that'll give them all the confidence in the world going into two cup games next week.

01:23Yes, yes, indeed. Just on Fulham, I think, clearly Marco Silva's a talented manager and he has a lot about him.

01:29Fulham have some good players, but as I mentioned there, Newcastle do have more quality.

01:35So, again, obviously we mentioned there that killing games off.

01:39It's a game where you'd just like Newcastle to go out and get the job done nice and early, I think, isn't it?

01:44Yes, absolutely. 100%. If they can get a couple of goals lead and then do what they did well, you manage.

01:50I mean, that was a luxury on Saturday. He didn't seem too happy about it when he came off,

01:53but taking Bruno off and being able to take Isak off with a 15-20 minute spare is a good thing.

01:58You can keep them fresh. If they can do that on Saturday, that'll be ideal.

02:01Of course, I don't think it'll be that. I think it'll be a close game.

02:05I don't remember. It could be heads against Fulham.

02:07They were very unlucky not to get a point with Isak last minute goal.

02:11I think it'll be a similar game with that. I hope that Newcastle have got enough and that, as you say,

02:15they can go a couple of goals up and be able to rest these players.

02:17But, yes, it's going to be a tough game. Fulham never make it easy, I don't think.

02:21Even the game where Newcastle won 3-0 last season, that was because of an early red card, really.

02:26There hasn't been too much between the sides. So, yes, it's going to be a tough game.

02:32A win for Newcastle at James' Park on Saturday against Fulham would keep them firmly in the hunt

02:38for qualification to the Champions League for next season,

02:41with potentially five teams going through to Europe's elite competition,

02:45as per UEFA's rules regarding league coefficients.

02:49It would also set the Magpies up nicely for their test next midweek

02:54against Arsenal in their second leg of the League Cup semi-final.