Steve Davies’ best bets for Newcastle's Premier League showdown with Brentford include plenty of goals and the Magpies to buck a corners trend.
Newcastle return from the international break desperate to snap a three-game losing streak and they should fancy their chances of landing the odds against a team they beat home and away in 2022/23.
Brentford, though, are stubborn and set on proving last season was no fluke, and an unbeaten start to this term illustrates they will be no pushovers.
Goals on the cards in Tyneside thriller
Newcastle and Brentford laid on a couple of entertaining Premier League tussles last term, Eddie Howe’s men running out 5-1 winners at St James’s Park before completing the double with a 2-1 success in West London.
Goals were a currency of those matches and neither side seems to have lost that knack of scoring – and conceding – in decent numbers.
Both teams have scored in three of Brentford’s four matches – all draws – while they won the other game 3-0 at Fulham.
And both teams have scored in three of Newcastle’s four, too, the exception being their 1-0 defeat at Manchester City where they hardly got a look-in. This fixture, on home soil against a team in Brentford who are positive but will cough up chances, is far more winnable and should produce a few goals, at both ends.
Newcastle are probably short enough in 90-minute betting against a Brentford side who have lost only one of their last 11. They may not be a bad lay at the prices though a bet on both teams scoring and over 2.5 goals looks preferable.
Newcastle look good for corners
Newcastle have mustered just 14 corners this season, hardly the kind of numbers which invite an overs bet on match corners.
However, one of those games was at Manchester City where they produced a blank – and this is not Man City away.
Last term Newcastle were the Premier League’s top corner winners, producing over seven per game and that stat is the most relevant because there is nothing about their approach that has changed.
Brentford are all about getting players wide, down the channels and looking for corners from where they are so dangerous.
They have already amassed 21 corners at 5.2 per game and should have little difficulty hitting their average if the game is as open as billed. Back over 11.5 match corners.
Schade to lead a growing tackle count
Newcastle and Brentford top the charts for most fouls suffered this season – and both are happy to dish it out as well.
Kevin Schade, for example, committed three fouls in the Bees’ 2-2 draw with Bournemouth last time out.
And if he was a busy Bee in the home game against Bournemouth, then rest assured he will be fully occupied by a rampaging Kieran Trippier and, if fit, Miguel Almiron.
Brentford are tireless at defending from the front with Schade, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoann Wissa all educated in the art of stopping attacks at source and they aren’t afraid to put in the tackles.
Best bets
Both teams to score & over 2.5 goals 11/10
Over 11.5 corners 7/5
Kevin Schade to make two or more tackles 17/10
