Anyone who witnessed Monday night’s match might be puzzled as to why the Magpies are such a big price (11/5 Stan James) to win at Craven Cottage on Sunday. After all, they managed to nullify a talented Aston Villa team and deservedly beat them 2-0, elevating them out of the bottom three as a result.
Indeed, since Joe Kinnear took over as manager, there has been a revival taking place at St James’ Park, and they could be just about to land their first away win of the season. The midfield unit of Joey Barton and Nicky Butt provide solid protection for the back four, while Michael Owen (13/2 Betfred) and Obafemi Martins (7/1 Blue Square) are likely to cause problems for the Fulham defence. The latter has scored in his past two matches, and is a massive 11/4 (William Hill) to strike in this one.
Fulham are 7/5 (Paddy Power) to pick up their fourth home win this season, although Roy Hodgson’s men haven’t been too convincing in front of their own fans recently. While their 2-0 victory against Wigan was deserved, they were fortunate to land a goalless draw against Sunderland and were beaten 2-1 by West Ham in the previous match. Nevertheless, Andy Johnson’s pace is likely to give the Magpies rearguard plenty of food for though, and the ex-Everton striker is 6/1 (888sport) favourite to open the scoring.
However, the value surely lies with the visitors instead, who have rapidly improved under Kinnear and beat the same opponents home and away last term. Joey Barton scored the only goal of the game at Craven Cottage in December, and he’s a 16/1 chance (Boylesports) to do the same in this game. For those wanting to back Newcastle while having the draw on their side, VC Bet offer 5/4 that United win on their ‘Draw No Bet’ market.