Newcastle United will look to rebound vs. Everton tomorrow

Newcastle United must be cautious against an in-form Everton at Goodison Park tomorrow.

Newcastle United are set to take on Everton tomorrow afternoon at Goodison Park and the Magpies should be cautious of their next opponents. Newcastle’s confidence is back on thin ice suffering a shocking 3-0 defeat to West Ham at St. James’ Park on Saturday and Everton will not make life any easier for the Magpies.

Everton is currently sixth in the table with six wins, four draws and four losses, and the Toffees will be favorites to add one more victory to their record against Newcastle. West Ham surprisingly halted Newcastle’s momentum over the weekend, but the Toon must forget that loss and turn all their attention to Everton.

What To Expect From Newcastle

When looking at the statistics from Saturday’s match one would never assume that Newcastle lost 3-0, but missed chances and lazy defending is what led to the embarrassing loss. This leads me to the first change supporters should expect to see tomorrow.

Ayoze Perez is going from the hero of last term to the villain of this season. The attacking midfielder should have multiple goals this season, but his precision is lacking. As a result, it only makes sense to see Yoshinori Muto take the reigns as the number ten behind Salomon Rondon against Everton.

Secondly, this might be the match where supporters finally get a glimpse of Jonjo Shelvey and Ki Sung-yueng together in midfield from the opening whistle. Newcastle needs two players who are capable of controlling the flow the match and spreading the ball around in order to have a chance against Everton’s compact defense (only 16 goals allowed).

Finally, some changes need to occur in defense. No player can feel safe in the starting eleven and Benitez should switch things up to keep every defender on their toes for the coming weeks. Everton is not a flashy offensive team as they only win matches by tight margins, so Newcastle’s defenders must stick with the man in front of them and be quick to clear out crosses and intercept passes.

Underdog Mentality

Going up against a top six side, Newcastle will rightfully be underdogs tomorrow. The fact that Goodison Park is also the tightest stadium in the Top Flight does not help the Magpies either. The only thing that will help the visitors tomorrow is playing with the urgency and efficiency that was lacking against West Ham. If Newcastle fights for every duel, takes their chances and marks players closely in defense, they should be able to steal at least one point on the road.

Prediction: Everton 1-1 Newcastle