Newcastle v Aston Villa | Match Preview, Odds To BetOn and Prediction
Champions League-bound Newcastle United host Europa Conference League-bound Aston Villa at St James’ Park on Saturday evening, in an exciting early match-up between two overachieving Premier League clubs. Newcastle will want revenge after losing their last meeting to Villa while the Midlands outfit will be desperate to end the winless run in United’s backyard.
Newcastle sealed a top-four spot in the league last season, finishing above Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, so they’re favourites to pick up all three points. The Magpies have strengthened well in the transfer market too (Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento, Yankuba Minteh), so United should be a more formidable outfit.
Villa pipped Tottenham to a top-seven finish in 2022/23, so they’re no slouches either. The Midlands outfit also bolstered their squad well this summer, bringing in Youri Tielemans, Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby, so they have greatly improved too. Unai Emery’s men don’t have the best recent head-to-head record though, with two defeats from their last two meetings on Tyneside, so Newcastle are 10/13 with 10Bet To Win.
Newcastle averaged 1.9 goals per home game last season, so they’re 3/4 with 888 Sport to score Over 1.5 Goals. The Magpies conceded only 0.73 goals per home game in the Premier League while Villa netted 0.9 goals per away game, so Total Away Goals Under 1.5 is 1/3 with William Hill. Emery’s side can’t be discounted though as only five teams won fewer games on the road. Only our clubs conceded fewer goals away from home than Villa too. Villa are 4/1 with Bet UK To Win.
Eddie Howe’s side were draw specialists last season, playing out 14 stalemates from 38 league games, so Newcastle and Villa are 16/5 with BetWay To Draw. Although July’s pre-season meeting between the two Premier League outfits resulted in a six-goal thriller, Saturday’s meeting might be a low-scoring affair.
Newcastle had the best defensive record in the league last season while Villa were fifth in the table for least amount of goals conceded, so both sides shouldn’t give up much to the other. Total Goals Under 2.5 is 23/20 with Bet UK. But if there are goals, Callum Wilson is the most likely to bag for Newcastle after scoring 18 goals last season.
The 31-year-old is 4/1 with William Hill to be First Goalscorer and 7/5 with Paddy Power to Score Anytime. Alexander Isak hit double figures in 2022/23, so he’s one to watch too. The 23-year-old is 9/2 with Betfair to be First Goalscorer and 19/10 with Betfair to Score Anytime.
Ollie Watkins is Villa’s biggest threat, having scored 15 goals from 37 league games last season. The 27-year-old is 8/1 with Boyle Sports to be First Goalscorer and 14/5 with William Hill to Score Anytime.
It’s worth noting that Villa haven’t beaten Newcastle at St James’ Park since 2005, scoring only five goals in their last 13 head-to-heads, so it won’t be easy to get a result on Tyneside. Howe’s men only lost twice on home soil, so nearly every top-flight side dropped points to the Toon Army in Newcastle last season.
Prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Aston Villa
