25th Oct 2012 | Football
Newcastle v Bruges Tip
The Geordies have saved some of their best stuff for Europe and their next visitors look vulnerable.
Newcastle have kept three clean sheets in a row in Europe and will fancy their chances of extending that sequence further against an injury-ravaged Bruges side.
The Magpies thumped Bordeaux 3-0 at St James’s Park at the start of the month but the French team previously beat Bruges 4-0 on their own patch. Those two statistics when put together suggest this should be a one-side contest favouring the Toon.
Alan Pardew is likely to freshen up his line-up on Thursday but he’s done that in other Europa League fixtures to great effect so far. This could be Sammy Ameobi’s chance to shine, perhaps alongside his brother who scored the first against Bordeaux.
Bruges may be top of the Belgian league but that seems to say more about the lack of quality in that division. They don’t even travel that impressively domestically anyway, winning just two of six away matches. They arrive off the back of a 4-1 defeat to OH Leuven as fixture congestion appears to be taking its toll.
Newcastle are a best price 4/6 (WilliamHill) to win, but I would favour the 7/4 (Ladbrokes) on them doing so to nil.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 00:39 25th Oct, 2012 but subject to change
