Soccer / eddie howe

Newcastle United head to Brentford's Community Stadium this weekend for a rare 3pm Saturday afternoon kick-off riding the crest of a wave of hot form after smashing West Ham 5-1 at The Olympic Stadium on Wednesday night thanks to braces from both Callum Wilson and Joelinton and the goal of the game from substitute Alexander Isak: Its the exact same 5-1 scoreline that The Champions League-chasing Magpies - who remain 3rd place in The Premier League table on 53 points but are now crucially three points ahead of fifth-placed Spurs still with a game in hand over the Londoners - thrashed Brentford by at St James' Park in October: Brentford are in ninth spot in The Premier League on 43 points chasing European football themselves despite narrowly losing 1-0 to Man United - whom they resoundingly beat 4-0 early season - on Wednesday night: Yet Eddie Howe will be expecting a sterner test from Thomas Frank's men in their own stadium where they have enjoyed that big victory against Man United and on their day with the crowd behind them in a tightly-packed arena carry a threat to any visitors: Magpies Must Tighten Up At Corners Against Brentford Set Piece Threat Newcastle will certainly need to defend better from set pieces against The Bees after conceding another sloppy goal from a corner against The Hammers when Kurt Zouma lost his marker Sven Botman and headed in at the back post past the flailing Nick Pope: It was just the 20th goal that Newcastle have conceded in 28 Premier League matches yet it was another avoidable goal conceded from a corner similar to goals conceded against West Ham in the reverse fixture at St James' Park in February and both Bournemouth and Spurs away when Harry Kane notched. That's 20% of Newcastle's conceded goals - 4 of a total of 20 goals conceded - so if I was manager I would reorganise the defensive set-up on corners and have a man posted on sentry duty on the front and back posts like Alan Pardew did in the 2011/12 season when Danny Simpson would regularly block goal-bound efforts on the line. Having a defensive man on each post is a trend that has fallen out of favour in modern football where a combination of man-marking and zonal marking is now the norm but its one that Newcastle need look at and address with Brentford dangerous from corners as they showed against Liverpool in a 3-1 win in January causing havoc with set-pieces: Strangely for a team good at attacking corners, Brentford are also vulnerable defending corners so if Newcastle can find a way to make their great height in the shape of 6ft 7in Dan Burn, 6ft 5in Botman, 6ft 4in Alex Isak and 6ft 2in Joelinton count then it could be rich pickings for The Magpies from set-pieces. Magpies' old boy Ivan Toney, who recently made his England debut, is Brentford's main threat having scored 17 Premier League goals this season and has become renowned as the best penalty taker in the country although the betting scandal he has been charged with and accepted breaching FA rules on 200 separate occasions hangs over him with a lengthy ban expected with many believing he should be already be banned: Toney's relationship with bookies - whom the Premier League are expected to ban from front of shirt-sponsorship deals from next season - also extends to the Brentford ownership whose owner Mark Benham is also the owner and founder of two companies - SmartOdds a statistics firm used by professional gamblers and the MatchBook betting exchange - and the links between gambling markets and corruption are well-established and may well be something for the authorities to investigate further with Brentford enjoying the benefits of some choice refereeing decisions this Premier League season: Newcastle Can Attack At Will Again Newcastle were superb in attack at West Ham and looked capable of scoring every time they attacked The Hammers' defence and against Eddie Howe has a nice selection dilemma after Callum Wilson more than justified his selection with a well-taken brace and Wilson was heavily involved in the 5-1 against Brentford so may get the nod again despite second-half substitute Alexander Isak looking equally sharp and scoring. The Brentford defence has conceded 38 Premier League goals this season and with Newcastle looking so dangerous and with an array of attacking talent in the shape of Wilson or Isak centrally and Allan Saint-Maximin, Anthony Gordon, Jacob Murphy and Joelinton and Joe Willock all capable of playing on the wings, Howe is spoilt for choice and has the luxury of bringing on subs to devastating effect as West Ham discovered. In his pre-match press conference after the West Ham win, Eddie Howe praised a "focussed" Allan Saint-Maximin's contribution to Newcastle's game saying: "he's an integral part of our team because he's something slightly difference because nobody can do what he does - he's very much an individual but is performing well within the team structure and we just want to see the best Maxi possible" and the Frenchman is certainly silencing his critics with his current run of form and ever-presence in the team following the injury that hampered him mid-season: The Newcastle manager spoke of an "unlucky" Matt Targett, who played some part vs West Ham as a substitute but Howe is very much a believer in a settled back-four yet it was the former Aston Villa left-back who was fouled for the sending off in last season's impressive win at The Community Stadium so he may get the nod over Dan Burn. Eddie Howe has some positive selection dilemmas - "the problems you want to have" - with so many players in form including who plays striker at Brentford between Alex Isak & Callum Wilson and who plays central midfield between an on-form Joelinton, Bruno Guimaraes, Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock all champing at the bit to play a part against Brentford who he described as "strong...and a totally unique test" but the feeling on Geordieland certainly is that whoever plays, Newcastle will win & win well with the club demonstrating why they should be playing Champions League football next season. Prediction - Newcastle 3 Brentford 1 Potential Line-Ups: