Chris Sutton has been left unimpressed by Newcastle United at the start of this season and believes they are ‘going to come a cropper’ soon.
The Magpies are level on 10 points with Arsenal in second and sit alongside the Gunners, Manchester City, Brighton and Nottingham Forest are the only remaining unbeaten teams in the Premier League after four games.
That said, all three of Newcastle’s wins so far have been by just a single goal, while their EFL Cup win away at Forest came via a penalty shootout.
Eddie Howe’s side are also third in the Premier League for shots faced (66) and have allowed their opponents to generate 6.52 xGA, suggesting their tally of three goals conceded won’t be the standard for the rest of the campaign.
Newcastle will ‘come a cropper’ says Sutton
Newcastle travel to Fulham this weekend with the Cottagers unbeaten in their last five matches across all competitions, excluding penalty shootouts.
Former Blackburn Rovers and Celtic striker Sutton has predicted a 1-1 draw which would, of course, maintain Newcastle’s unbeaten start.
However, he doesn’t like what he’s seen so far from the Magpies and expects things to unravel soon if current performances continue.
“Newcastle are still a bit of an unknown quantity for me because I can’t say I’ve been particularly impressed by them so far,” Sutton wrote in his BBC Sport predictions column.
“Eventually, Eddie Howe’s side are going to come a cropper, but at the moment they are finding a way to win games, even if they are relying on moments of brilliance by individual players rather than playing well as a team.”
On the outcome of the match at Craven Cottage, Sutton added: “They are the side who are tricky to predict here because I was spot on with a 1-1 draw for Fulham last week. So, I am going for the same outcome… even though I fancy them to win this one more than I do Newcastle.”
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