Eddie Howe is convinced that his Newcastle United players can build on their “massive” victory over Southampton prior to Fulham in the Premier League this Saturday.
Howe watched while his side of a goal came to easily send the lower club of the division, to the fifth in the rankings and an end behind the top four.
What the Boss of the Magpies was most satisfied was the creativity that his players showed after they fell into a heavy 4-1 defeat in their last home blocks against Bournemouth.
Newcastle ended the match with an expected goals (XG) a total of 2.93 from their 17 shots with the goal of Alex McCarthy, and how this time wants to see more of the same.
“After last week I thought a huge victory for us, that was really hard to take,” said Howe. “The performance and the result [against Bournemouth] Were nowhere near what we have been lately.
“So I think the game, especially admitted so early, was a huge reaction from the players. It would have been a moment that we had to respond and dig deep and we did.
“I thought we played very well in the first half. I thought we were excellent and, yes, a great response to admission.
“We looked creative. I thought we had a good feeling about us, perhaps not so much in the last half hour, but certainly in the first 60 minutes. A number of charities scored, could have scored more.”
In the meantime, Fulham was beaten late against Manchester United in their last Premier League meeting, with the bent effort of Lisandro Martinez the difference.
The Cottagers are now Winless in their last five Premier League home competitions (D4 L1) since a 3-1 victory over Brighton at the beginning of December. Indeed, this was only the second time they did not score on a home floor in the top flight this period (0-0 versus Southampton in December).
But they have good memories of their travels, with their last road at the top of the top that she saw Leicester City beating 2-0 earlier this month.
Marco Silva's Lace is not yet in the table with European football yet, but the Fulham boss confirmed that he would be Harry Wilson without influential midfielder, who sustained an injury in the defeat against United.
Silva is also without a defender Kenny Tete and suggested that arrivals in those positions could be imminent prior to the Monday's transfer decline.
“Not good news for Harry Wilson,” Silva said on Thursday during his press conference. “Wilson needs surgery – he will play for a long period. Maybe 10 weeks.
'Of course we will try. We try to get a player for his [Tete’s] position. We are looking for that position.
“And of course, after the injury to Harry Wilson we are looking for a player in that position [too]. It does not work to our advantage because it is a very short period until the end of the window! “
Players to watch
Newcastle – Alexander Isak
Since the beginning of December, Newcastle -Spits Isak has scored more Premier League goals than any other player (13), who also defeated six different teams at the time.
He is now second under the leading Premier League scorers of the Magpies (48 goals), behind Alan Shearer at 148, while he needs one goal to become the leading Swedish scorer. He is the same as Freddie Ljungberg at the moment.
Fulham – Alex Iwobi
Iwobi was the most current threat of Fulham in their 1-0 defeat against Manchester United previous time-out, and he will be the key to the cottagers if they want to get something out of the game.
This season he played the most progressive passes of each player in the Premier League (132), while players to try 500+ passes only Mohamed Salah from Liverpool (15.3%), has gradually played a higher percentage of those passes than Iwobi (14.5% (14.5%).
Match forecast: Newcastle Win
Newcastle has won seven of their last eight Premier League matches (L1) and won most points on each side in their last eight games (21), while only Liverpool (25) has scored more goals than the Magpies (22) in this Spell.
The magpies are also undefeated in their last eight top matches against Fulham (W5 D3), so that six clean sheets are held in that run since a 1-0 loss in May 2009.
And Howe's side has also demonstrated this term their recovery powers. Only Manchester City (17) has won more points this season by losing positions in the Premier League than Newcastle (15). The Magpies won four games after they have the first in 2024-25
In the meantime, Fulham won the reverse match against Newcastle 3-1 in September, but only in 2006-07 and 2008-09 did they complete the Premier League-Double over the Magpies.
The cottagers are also impressed by home. This season they picked up 16 points in 11 Road Premier League matches (W4 D4 L3), only two less than they managed last season (18 in 19 games). Their 1.45 points per game on the road in 2024-25 is their best count in a single Premier League season.
And continuity has been the key for Silva's silk. Fulham is the only side playing more than one player this season in the Premier League (Bernd Leno and Antonee Robinson), while Robinson is one of the four outfielders to do this this season, along with Illia Zabarnyi, Nathan Collins and Virgil van Dijk.
Opta wins probability
Newcastle – 55.3%
Drawing – 23%
Fulham – 21.6%
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