Eddie Howe will meet the club he took to the Premier League on Saturday. We look ahead to the clash with our Newcastle United vs Bournemouth prediction and preview.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth Stats: The Key Insights
- Newcastle United are the favourites against Bournemouth, winning 55.8% of pre-match simulations by the Opta supercomputer.
- Alexander Isak has scored in each of his last eight Premier League games, a feat bettered by only two players in the competition’s history.
- Newcastle are aiming for a 10th straight win across all competitions for the first time in their history.
Eddie Howe will hope to keep up Newcastle United’s remarkable momentum when they host his former side Bournemouth in Saturday’s early kick-off.
Newcastle have won their last nine games across all competitions and could record 10 straight wins for the first time in club history at St. James’ Park this weekend. Their most recent victory came in a 3-0 triumph over Wolves on Wednesday.
Alexander Isak scored twice before assisting Anthony Gordon’s late third, which lifted Newcastle to fourth in the Premier League table, just three points behind Nottingham Forest and five adrift of Arsenal.
Isak’s opener on Wednesday marked the eighth-straight Premier League game he has scored in. The Swedish striker’s scoring run can only be bettered by two players in the competition’s history – Jamie Vardy (11 between August-November 2015) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (10 between March-August 2003).
The early kick-off omens are positive for Howe’s side, too, considering Newcastle are unbeaten in their last six Premier League games starting at 12:30 on a Saturday (W4 D2). They had failed to win any of their six previous games in this slot prior to that (D2 L4).
In stark contrast, visitors Bournemouth have lost eight of their last 11 Premier League games kicking off at 12:30 on a Saturday (W3). That streak also includes losing all four such games away from home.
Andoni Iraola’s side suffered late disappointment in a 2-2 draw with Chelsea in Tuesday’s clash at Stamford Bridge. Justin Kluivert’s penalty and an Antoine Semenyo rocket had edged Bournemouth ahead after Cole Palmer’s opener, only for Reece James to slot home a stoppage-time free-kick to level.
Kluivert did not start in that draw but came off the bench to convert from 12 yards. His six penalty goals are more than any other Premier League player this season, while only Joshua King (12) has scored more spot-kicks for Bournemouth in their top-flight history.
Bournemouth have also scored more goals via substitutes than any other side in the competition this season (11). With their combined goals and assists, substitute goal involvements have been worth a league-high 17 points to Iraola’s side this term, helping them to eighth in the table and just four points behind Newcastle.
As for team news, Nick Pope and Fabian Schär could return for Saturday’s clash, though Harvey Barnes, Jamaal Lascelles and Callum Wilson are all out. Loanee goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga is back available for the visitors after being ineligible against parent club Chelsea, while Adam Smith could pass a late fitness test.
That is the only good news for Iraola, who will be without Luis Sinisterra, Alex Scott, Marcus Tavernier, Julián Araujo, Marcos Senesi, Evanilson, Enes Ünal and James Hill.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth Head-to-Head
Expect goals on Saturday given five of the six Premier League meetings between these two teams at St. James’ Park have seen both sides score – the exception being a 1-0 win for Bournemouth in November 2017.
However, Bournemouth are winless in their last four top-flight trips to Newcastle (D2 L2), having won their first two away games at the Magpies.
Despite those struggles, four of the last five Premier League meetings between Newcastle and Bournemouth have ended level, with the Cherries winning the other 2-0 in November 2023.
Interestingly, Howe has been in charge of all 13 Premier League meetings between the pair – he has only managed two victories and is yet to beat Bournemouth as Newcastle manager.
They played out a 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium in August, with Anthony Gordon equalising for Newcastle in the second half after Marcus Tavernier had given Bournemouth a first-half lead.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth Prediction
The Opta supercomputer favours a home win as Newcastle triumphed in 55.8% of 10,000 pre-match simulations.
Bournemouth managed to come away with all three points in 22.3% of sims, while the draw probability was ranked just under at 21.9%.
Newcastle vs Bournemouth Predicted Lineups
Opta Power Rankings
The Opta Power Rankings are a global team ranking system. They assign an ability score to over 13,000 domestic football teams. This score is on a scale between zero and 100, where zero is the worst-ranked team in the world and 100 is the best team in the world.
Ahead of kick-off this weekend, here is the Opta Power Ranking for both sides.
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