Newcastle United head to Vicarage Road to face Watford on Saturday afternoon looking to win a match at the seventh attempt in the 2021/22 season including the Carabao Cup penalty loss to finally get The Magpies' season up and running.

Having faced dodgy refereeing decisions & injuries to both top goalkeepers, Newcastle are due a change of fortune and newly-promoted Watford, who were knocked out of The Carabao Cup by Championship Stoke City midweek, offer a good chance of a victory.

A 1-1 draw against Leeds United on Friday night bettered last season's results against The Whites yet didn't deliver the victory and three points that will truly kickstart Newcastle's season although an improved performance in a kamikaze end-to-end game of 39 shots from both teams made for lively Friday night football.

Another worldie goal from Allan Saint-Maximin, who has started the season in electric form, equalised Raphinha's fluke goal that opened the scoring in the game & had SKY's Jamie Carragher purring & comparing it to the vintage strikes of George Best at Man U:

An instant favourite of The Toon Army since he signed for Steve Bruce in the summer of 2019, Saint-Maximin's stock is rising by the game as he adds the serious end product of assists and goals to the outrageous flair and dribbling he's always demonstrated in a black and white shirt and its no surprise the Frenchman leads Europe's Top 5 Leagues in carries into the final third so far in the 2021/22 season:

And Saint-Maximin was quick to recognise the contribution of his much-maligned teammate Joelinton, whose match on Friday night he called "Amazing" and he also paid tribute to his manager Steve Bruce whom he said he loves & thanked for giving him his big opportunity to impress on The Premier League stage:

Joelinton, playing a left-sided forward/winger role as he did at Manchester United, had an excellent game winning virtually everything in the air and maintaining Newcastle's possession in Leeds' half and it was Joelinton's pressing which created the attack for Newcastle's goal & he who laid on the ball on for Saint-Maximin's fine dribble & goal.

Watford, meanwhile, have made a good start to the season for a promoted team winning two of their five games so far having beaten Aston Villa 3-2 on the opening day then Norwich City last week to muster six points to land The Hornets in 11th place.

Nigerian striker Emmanuel Dennis arrived from Club Brugge in the summer after striking his way onto everyone's football's radar with two goals against Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabou Stadium in The Champions League & is certainly Watford's danger man after scoring in both The Hornet's wins against Villa and The Canaries.

Other notable player to look out for in Watford's line-up for Magpies fans are a trio of former Newcastle players Dan Gosling, Danny Rose and midfielder Moussa Sissoko, who switched London clubs from Spurs just before transfer deadline day and immediately impressed against his former club on his Hornets debut and will be wanting to do the same against the side who gave him his start in The Premier League before a huge £30M transfer to Tottenham.

Hornets boss Xisco Munoz said he was fully aware of the threat posed by Newcastle especially danger man Allan Saint-Maximin in his press conference ahead of the game:

and remarked on Australian Jared Gillett becoming the first foreign referee to take charge of a Premier League match when he is the man in the middle on Saturday:

“Always it is important to have the referees,” Hornets manager Xisco said with a smile.
“No, it is perfect. I wish him all the best. It is very well when we have this history and I am sure we have a very good game with him.
“After the game… maybe I can change the answer but right now it is like this.”

While in his presser, United boss Steve Bruce quipped about Gillett's debut:

"It might be a refreshing change and we might get a few decisions for once!"

before he revealed he will "look into" Newcastle's injury situation after revealing skipper Jamaal Lascelles and Joe Willock will miss the game at Vicarage Road and more than likely the trip to Wolves the following week also and hinted he may keep the back four formation that thrived against Leeds, saying "We've got that up our sleeve..":

Despite the injuries, Newcastle have got enough to beat Watford and the injuries may force a change to a more attacking line-up potentially involving the forgotten man this season, striker Dwight Gayle, that should make for an entertaining game.

Prediction - Newcastle 3 Watford 2

Potential Line-Ups: