Gabby Agbonlahor backs Newcastle to beat Everton at ‘fortress’ St James’ Park
Gabby Agbonlahor believes Newcastle United will just have enough to beat Frank Lampard’s Everton on Wednesday evening.
The Toffees are heading into the fixture off the back of two defeats to Manchester United and Tottenham and are currently only two points above the relegation zone.
Agbonlahor feels that St James’ Park is a “fortress” at the moment and that Eddie Howe’s side will have enough to inflict a third straight defeat on the Toffees.
“Newcastle at home are turning that place into a fortress, and I think they’ll have enough to get it over the line against Everton. 1-0,” said the former Villa striker (talkSPORT EDGE, 19 October).
Tough to call
This is a really tough game to call because Everton have faced two Premier League heavyweights in their last two fixtures.
The Toffees were more than a match for Tottenham up until their opening goal and faced a Manchester United side that actually put in one of their better performances of the season at Goodison Park. Before then the Toffees held the best defensive record in the top flight.
Everton were performing well and if they can remain rigid at the back they do stand a chance of hurting the Magpies on Wednesday evening [19 October]. Newcastle have themselves been in good form and have only lost one game so far this season.
This does have the feel of a game that will be decided by potentially just one goal. A win this evening should take the Toffees into the safety of midtable and pull them away from the relegation zone.
These are the type of games where the Toffees’ season will be defined. A point on Wednesday would be a good result and is needed to prevent three defeats on the spin. Newcastle are without Allan Saint-Maximin and Alexander Isak for the visit of Everton which is a big boost for Lampard.