Its two wins out of two for Newcastle and Steve Bruce has a golden chance to chalk up back-to-back Premier League wins for the first time since Kenny Dalglish managed the feat in the 1997-8 season with wins against Sheffield Wednesday & Aston Villa and Bruce was eyeing up the chance of making it three successive wins on Sunday against Brighton.
"It always helps at Newcastle.
"I’m like everybody else, we all like to get off to a start and we couldn’t have had a better week in terms of results.
"The players have hit the ground running, which was always part of the reason why we went after who we went after.
"We’ve got a chance to get off to an outstanding start."
What a week for Newcastle's new signings as all three attacking outfield debutants - Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser & Jeff Hendrick - all scored on their debuts against West Ham in The Premier League or Blackburn Rovers in The Carabao Cup & defensive recruits Jamal Lewis & keeper Mark Gillespie kept clean sheets on their first team bows.
Geordie fans barely had time to recover after celebrating an opening day win on the first day of a Premier League season for the first time since Alan Pardew's men beat Spurs on the opening day of 2012/3, after a superb stabbed -finish by Wilson and this raker by Jeff Hendrick at The London Stadium on Saturday night:
when Ryan Fraser opened & shut the scoring at St. James' Park vs Blackburn Rovers to send The Magpies through to the next round of The League Cup vs Morecambe:
It was the first time Newcastle fans had enjoyed a glimpse of Ryan Fraser in action in the black and white strips via the EFL's Live Streaming event for £10 per ticket and it was a winning goal worth the admission money alone as Joelinton dragged the centre back to the halfway line allowing Fraser to exploit the space behind from a superb through ball from Miguel Almiron, who also set up Hendrick's goal against West Ham.
Fraser's overall performance, his first competitive action since playing in The Premier League for Bournemouth in March against Liverpool at Anfield, demonstrated the qualities he will bring to the Newcastle attack - pace, urgency, direct dribbling, tenacity and clever interplay with teammates that will make Newcastle a more dangerous side.
And Fraser's energetic display impressed new manager Steve Bruce:
along with all of the new signings:
"We’re delighted for him. Ryan Fraser scored a goal and of course the contribution of the other three at West Ham was clear for all to see.
"There’s nothing like when a good player walks through the door to help you.
"The four or five have bolstered the squad. There’s a feel-good factor which is good. You get that through results."
and the Newcastle manager now has the luxury of a selection dilemma ahead of Newcastle's match with Brighton on Sunday afternoon.
Andy Carroll, whose wife gave birth to his fifth child this week, will be pressing his claims for a start after an excellent first full 90 minutes in a long time against West Ham United while Joelinton will be hoping to build on the 73 minutes of first team action he got against Blackburn after a disjointed pre-season program in isolation.
Wilson, after opening his Newcastle account against The Hammers, will surely be the first attacking name on the team-sheet and Bruce could well link him with Fraser, his well-documented partner-in-crime from Bournemouth especially after the pair played in tandem in a 3-1 win over Brighton in their penultimate win as a pair for The Cherries, coincidentally with the same referee Kevin Friend as is officiating on Sunday:
Exactly how Bruce will fit his attacking players into his starting line-up on Sunday is the $64M dollar question but the outcome is sure to be a Newcastle victory with exciting game-changing options on the bench should he need to roll the dice...
Prediction : Newcastle 3 Brighton 1
Comments