Victories against Crystal Palace and Manchester United saw us hitting the back of the net nine times in those two games alone, and Alan Pardew is liking what he is seeing from this team.
However, the former Toon manager has warned stand-in boss Jason Tindall that our upcoming opponents, Aston Villa, could pose an entirely different threat.
Pardew says victory at Villa will be a ‘tough ask’
Newcastle have now reached six victories in a row across all competitions and we truly believe that we can beat anyone with the football we are playing at the minute.
But as Pardew has claimed, the game on Saturday at Villa Park should be an interesting watch to see how Unai Emery’s side react to that tough defeat to PSG which saw them exit the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.
Statistically Aston Villa are one of the best home side’s in the league having lost just once all season, but a lot of energy will have gone into that hard-fought midweek tie and mentally it can be very deflating for the dressing room.
Alternatively, they could use this as a chance to bounce back against us and Pardew is struggling to see how Villa don’t come away with something from this game.
Here’s what Pardew had to say on Sky Sports:
“It’s been a dream for (Tindall). To come in as a manager and win two with four and five (goals). He’s going to go into that Villa game, he hasn’t even got to make a change! He can just name the same team again – It’s brilliant for him.
“I think it’s a really interesting game. Emotionally for Villa, that would have been a hard task (against PSG), and to pick the boys up and get them back up for the weekend is going to be a difficult job, whereas Newcastle’s turnaround – they’re bubbling. They’ll be looking forward to it.
“Interesting, but as Jason said, only one home defeat for Villa, so a tough ask. You’d expect Villa to get something. Maybe a draw or a win.”
Newcastle have worrying record at Villa Park
Despite a comfortable 3-1 win away to the Villans last season, our record in this fixture away from home has been poor in the last 10-15 years with just one win in our last eight trips there,
But what we must remember is that was the Newcastle of old and this current side will fancy themselves against anybody in the division having already beaten the best teams on our way to silverware this year.
With Eddie Howe still recovering, Tindall will be hoping for a similar performance to that of Wednesday night which was probably the best football we have played all season in that first half.
If we go playing the way we want to play and showing faith in those who are in red hot form, there’s no reason why we can’t come away with a positive result on Saturday evening.
