Welcome to the Brentford vs Newcastle preview.
Sunday, November 9 – Kick-off at 2:00 PM.
Newcastle United travel to Brentford this Remembrance Sunday desperate for their first away win of the Premier League campaign.
The Toon have looked good in recent cup games but have struggled for form in the league and it is becoming increasingly important that we achieve some consistency by putting together a string of wins.
There’s another nasty international break next weekend, meaning we won’t get a chance to right any wrongs until we host Man City in two weeks’ time, so three points this Sunday will be crucial.
Brentford will look to build on their good home form, having already beaten Liverpool and Man United at the GTech Community Stadium and drawn with Chelsea. They too have struggled to build good form but look so much better at home than on the road so far this season and could well prove to be dangerous opponents.
Form
In our last six league matches we have won two, lost three and drawn one. We have really fought for consistency in the league and are yet to win away from home. The seven points we have achieved in this series mean that we are languishing in a disappointing thirteenth place. A win could put us in the top ten depending on results elsewhere, but to really trouble the top four we need to put together a series of results quickly. In the last six games we have scored seven goals and conceded eight.
Brentford have won three of their past six games and lost three and those nine points leave them just one point ahead of United in the league. With a win they could be in ninth place by the end of the weekend. In the last six league games they have scored and conceded nine goals.
Last time out
De Toon hosted our friends from Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday evening and achieved a comfortable 2-0 victory. Joelinton had already had a goal disallowed before Dan Burn opened the scoring with a brilliant header after just eleven minutes. Burn’s technique was something special, he managed to curl the ball into the top corner. The Toon survived a scare when Bilbao hit the post twice in quick succession just before half-time, but were able to breathe easier when Joelinton scored early in the second half to make it 2-0 and secure another three points for United in what is shaping up to be a hugely successful Champions League campaign.
Three wins from four games and a plus-eight goal difference puts us in the top six of a thirty-six team league, ahead of Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Dortmund and Juventus, as we take on Europe’s elite.
Brentford traveled to Crystal Palace last Saturday and slipped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, a poor performance in the second half was punished when an own goal confirmed the destination of the points. There was still time for Palace to hit the post on an afternoon that could have been so much worse for the Bees.
State attack!
-Four Premier League games away at Brentford have seen three wins at Newcastle and just one defeat.
-The Toon have traveled to Brentford just ten times in all competitions since 1935.
-NUFC has found the net no fewer than ten times in the last four away games against Brentford.
Memorable match
In February 2022. Eddie Howe was the mastermind behind a complete turnaround in NUFC’s fortunes. Certainties of relegation under Steve Bruce, having not won any of our first fourteen league games, the Toon were now in the middle of a very enjoyable nine-match unbeaten run. An excellent away win got off to a dream start when Brentford were reduced to ten men after just eleven minutes. This led to persistent pressure from the black and whites who took the lead through a towering header from Joelinton. Joe Willock then broke free just before half-time and showed great composure to bury a right-footed effort into the top corner. This completed the scoring, but the day belonged to Brentford midfielder Christian Eriksen, who came on as a substitute with fifty seconds left. The hugely popular Dane had collapsed on the pitch in 2021 while playing for Denmark with a life-threatening condition and this was his first appearance since such a traumatic experience. He was warmly cheered on the pitch by Bees and Magpies fans and players for his emotional return to football. Brilliant stuff from the traveling Toon Army. Final score Brentford 0-2 Newcastle.
Played for both
Lord Les-Ferdinand – a little known fact is that Toon royalty Sir Les made three appearances for Brentford on loan from Queens Park Rangers in 1988. The legendary striker failed to find the net and returned to QPR before signing for NUFC in 1995. The rest, as they say, is history. Two years, fifty goals, two Premier League runners-up and many great memories. His sale to Tottenham in 1997 remains one of NUFC’s worst football decisions in living memory. He has subsequently revealed that he never wanted to leave Newcastle, but felt forced into the move due to Dalglish’s desire to play Shearer up front in away games, leaving Sir Les on the bench. The day he was sold, Shearer suffered a career-threatening injury and our 97/98 season was in tatters before it had even started, one of the darkest days of my post-Toon time.
Carl Short showed early promise when signed by Sir Bobby in 2000. The England Under-21 forward needed just four minutes of his home debut to find the net with a powerful header. Unfortunately, his time with the Toon was plagued by injuries and we never really saw the best of him. His last goal in a black and white shirt was an absolute winner in a 6-2 win at home to Everton in 2002, but highlights during his time on Tyneside were few and far between. He played thirty-one games for Brentford between 2009 and 2011, scoring six goals.
Ivan Toon arrived from Northampton as a 19-year-old but struggled to break into the first team. After a number of loan moves, he signed permanently for Peterborough and then Brentford, where he scored sixty-seven league goals for the Bees before moving to the Saudi Pro League in the summer of 2024.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 2-0 Champions League win at home to Athletic Bilbao:
“Really pleased with today. It was an important response to West Ham. We had a quick turnaround for this game. I don’t think we were at our best but we are in a good position in this competition now. We are learning a lot. This format is really good, more games, but it is a bigger test when you get back to the Premier League. It was good to have a game behind West Ham, we put them behind us and we scored two goals.”
Keith Andrews after a 2-0 defeat away at Crystal Palace:
“If we’re completely honest, we weren’t at our very best. This game was always going to be niggly, tight and tense. Some of our quality wasn’t what it was in recent weeks. It was a game with very few chances – and they were better at it. My players are not robots, they will make mistakes. There were elements in the first half that I wasn’t impressed with. The players have been excellent in recent weeks. They tried to break them down but they just couldn’t do that.
Good cause
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be gathering across the Gallowgate in front of the food bank. However, you can still help and all online cash donations are greatly appreciated. For more information and/or to donate to the food bank online, visit HERE.
Prediction
This is an absolutely huge competition! We need to start winning away from home as the number of points dropped has the potential to derail any hopes of qualifying for the Champions League. Last weekend our worst performance of the season was punished with a hopelessly disappointing 3-1 defeat at West Ham and that must be put right on Sunday afternoon. Brentford are good at home and definitely did a good job last season, but we rely on Eddie and I think Toon will only get three points from this. De Toon goes backwards once, but comes back to win. Brentford 1-2 Newcastle
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