Read our best bets for Aston Villa's trip to St James' Park on Saturday afternoon of the first weekend of the Premier League season.
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With Newcastle preparing for a Champions League campaign and Aston Villa also set to taste European football for the first time in 13 years, morale in both camps couldn’t be much higher heading into this new campaign.
The Magpies finished fourth in the Premier League last season, having transformed St James’ Park into a fortress, while Villa snatched seventh place from Tottenham after Unai Emery’s November arrival sparked them into life.
Both teams have had a successful summer of recruiting, which means Saturday’s Premier League curtain-raiser on Tyneside is one not to be missed.
Magpies can make the most of their home fortress
When things are going well, there are few stadiums in Europe quite as intimidating as St James’s Park, where only Arsenal and Liverpool managed to win from the 19 Premier League teams that tried last season.
Newcastle held Manchester City to a thrilling 3-3 draw, swatted aside Tottenham 6-1, bashed up Brighton 4-1, while also outclassing Chelsea and Manchester United in gritty wins to nil.
Eddie Howe’s side also quickly stamped their authority on their home encounter with Aston Villa, winning 4-0, and when roared on by passionate home support, they are a difficult side to oppose.
That defeat came during a tricky period for Villa and was before the appointment of Emery, so another hiding is unlikely, especially given the improvement they made in the latter stages of the campaign under the guidance of their Spanish tactician.
However, there is a feelgood factor at Newcastle that will have only intensified following the summer arrivals of Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes and Tino Livramento, making this a stronger squad than the one that finished last season.
Villa have also strengthened sufficiently but, despite last season’s upturn in form, they won only three of their final nine away games and may not face many trickier trips than this.
Free-scoring contest could be on the cards
Newcastle and Villa played out a thrilling 3-3 draw in the Premier League Summer Series in America in pre-season and the goals could again flow in this campaign opener at St James’ Park.
Both teams will be hoping to build on last season’s achievements rather than just sustain and, with so much attacking quality on show, it’s hard to envisage a cagey curtain-raiser.
Three of the Magpies’ final five home fixtures last season featured four or more goals and although Villa lost two of their final 15 league games, they managed only one clean sheet in their last seven outings.
Newcastle, meanwhile, kept only two clean sheets in their final 18 Premier League fixtures last season, which is a defensive frailty this pacy Villa attack spearheaded by Ollie Watkins will be looking to exploit.
Newcastle to win {ODDS:1158436487:31/40}
Over 3.5 goals {ODDS:1158436603:15/8}
