Newcastle United head to Everton hoping to get back to winning ways after defeat to Chelsea. The Goodison Park faithful are set to be nervous given their club only sit outside of the relegation zone on goal difference.
A defeat to Newcastle would not be enough to see them drop to 18th - unless it was by a seven-goal margin - but it would hugely dint their chances of survival. Watford are the team currently occupying the last space in the drop zone having played three more games than Everton.
Speaking on The Everything is Black and White Podcast, Everton writer Christopher Beesley admits there is a real concern over the side’s top-flight status, but he feels given the importance of the game, Everton will come out on top. He said: “If Newcastle do go ahead early, I wouldn’t say it will turn toxic but the fans could be getting on the players’ backs.
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“Newcastle have got that momentum and will want to bounce back at the result against Chelsea where they were bit unfortunate. But I believe this game means more for Everton, more important for them, in that Newcastle have a bit of a safety buffer between themselves and the bottom three whereas Everton just have to stop the rot.
“We both know Newcastle are going into this fixture in better form - Everton have been on a wretched run. But given it is so important for Everton, they have got to pull out a result from somewhere and based on that I will go for a 2-1 victory.”
Newcastle have already beaten Everton once this season. A 3-1 win over them at St James’ Park in what was Frank Lampard’s first game in charge.
Since then, Lampard has won just one game while Newcastle had gone nine unbeaten before the loss to Chelsea. A win for the Magpies would take them close to safety.
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