Newcastle United are aiming to make it six wins on the bounce against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Alan Shearer believes Newcastle United can capitalise on Nottingham Forest’s European exit and earn a draw this weekend.
Forest are one of the Premier League’s most in-form sides – unbeaten in seven to drag themselves away from the relegation zone. But a bruising 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa crushed their Europa League campaign and punctured the growing optimism around the City Ground.
As for Newcastle, they ended a five-game losing streak with a win over Brighton last weekend. Eddie Howe’s troops are fully rested and have won the last five meetings between the two sides.
Alan Shearer makes Newcastle United prediction
Speaking to Metro, Toon icon Shearer predicted a draw, placing emphasis on Morgan Gibbs-White’s fitness. The England international was an unused substitute on Thursday as he sported nasty facial injuries following his collision with Robert Sanchez.
“Tough one to predict, depending on what happens with Nottingham Forest in Europe,” Shearer said. “I mean, Morgan Gibbs-White is flying. I know he got an injury the other day, whether he’ll be fit or not, we’ll have to wait and see. But again, I think, given the circumstances, with Forest in Europe and Newcastle winning last weekend, I’m going to say a draw.”
Vitor Pereira looks ahead
Forest boss Pereira asked for understanding from supporters as he looked ahead to the Newcastle clash. Speaking after the Villa defeat, he said: “Now it is important to win the battle until the end of the season and then we can think about building something to be back in European competition. We have to play again after three days.
“We played three days ago and we’re playing again three days after this game, and there are teams not in Europe that are playing on Monday. We’ve had a lot of injuries because the players are not machines and they cannot deal with this kind of schedule.
“We had one less day to recover than them, which can make a lot of difference. It was a sad day. But we need to come back stronger and recover to compete against Newcastle United. I hope our supporters understand that the players fought with everything they had. But it was not possible.”