Newcastle Toons
Fansided

Newcastle aim to continue their winning ways tomorrow

ByDurim Halimi|
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - APRIL 13: General view inside the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and AFC Bournemouth at American Express Community Stadium on April 13, 2019 in Brighton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
BRIGHTON, ENGLAND - APRIL 13: General view inside the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Brighton & Hove Albion and AFC Bournemouth at American Express Community Stadium on April 13, 2019 in Brighton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Newcastle United will travel to the southern coast tomorrow to take on relegation-threatened Brighton at the Amex Stadium.

Newcastle United are enjoying their football at the moment after securing their Premier League safety through back-to-back wins over Leicester City and Southampton. Brighton, on the other hand, are in crisis mode as they desperately need three points from this game to keep their spot in the Top Flight next season.

Brighton are in a complicated situation as they are only three points clear of the drop zone. To make matters worse, the Seagulls will close out their season against Arsenal and Manchester City. Seeing how unlikely it is for them to steal any points from their last two games, Brighton will perceive tomorrow’s game against Newcastle as a cup final.

What to Expect

Let’s start with the obvious expectation for this game – Brighton will press to recover the ball and they will send bodies forward in search of some goals for 90 minutes. Chris Hughton will surely look to turn his team’s desperation in to offensive urgency. The support from the home fans will also motivate Brighton’s players and simultaneously create a tough environment for Newcastle.

The Magpies are the more difficult side to predict for tomorrow’s clash of the birds since Miguel Almiron has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a hamstring injury. Fortunately for Newcastle, the remainder of the season only consists of three more games.

Rafa Benitez will either stick with the more attacking 3-4-3 formation that was used with Almiron in the lineup or he will revert back to the balanced 4-2-3-1 formation which forces the Toon to primarily create chances through counter-attacks. Odds are that Benitez will throw Christian Atsu in the lineup to replace Almiron. If that is the case, then Newcastle will most likely continue with their attacking style of play.

Most neutral fans of the Premier League will not care much for this game, but Cardiff City fans will surely keep their eyes on this result tomorrow. Brighton won the previous meeting 1-0 and they will need to emulate that result if they wish to be safe, but I do not see that happening.

Prediction: Newcastle 1-0 Brighton