Newcastle v Aston Villa Match Result
Newcastle United are invariably favourites to win the majority of their home games and this is the case for the Boxing Day clash against Aston Villa. The Magpies have only managed a modest twenty-three points from their sixteen games played this season, with Eddie Howe’s side recording just a 50% win success at St James’ Park.
Even so, they are given a high chance of victory against a Villans side who effectively replaced them in the Champions League spots last season. Unai Emery’s team sit in a similar position and they have won three of their eight games on the road, although they are now solely focusing on domestic matters.
The game might be closer than the match odds suggest. There’s certainly a case for opposing a Newcastle side who might have thrashed Leicester City 4-0 on Saturday 14 December, although that came after a winless run of four games against West Ham, Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Brentford.
On the flip side, the north-east side have scored seven goals in their last two Premier League home matches and they really served it up against league leaders Liverpool, with Alexander Isak banging in the goals and there’s some strong form being shown by Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy.
Villa did lose 2-1 at Nottingham Forest last time out, with that coming after three successive victories in all competitions. However, their last top-flight away win came at Fulham on Saturday 19 October where they achieved a 3-1 success.
Newcastle won both fixtures against the Villans last time out, with a 5-1 home win being achieved before a 3-1 success in Birmingham. There will be plenty of Boxing Day accumulators featuring the Magpies although that low win rate at home might put some people off backing them.
Goals Under/Over
Goals could be on the cards in this Boxing Day clash, with Over 2.5 trading at around the 1.66 mark. Interestingly, Newcastle United have only scored twelve goals in eight home games, conceding eight times which suggests that Unders could be a better shout. However, the recent scorelines include a 4-0 win over Leicester and a 3-3 draw against Liverpool.
Eddie Howe’s side will clearly want to get on the front foot in search of more goals, with Aston Villa’s eight away games featuring a sum total of twenty-seven goals. Eleven goals have been scored and sixteen have been conceded, with the head-to-head record illustrating that this does tend to be a high-scoring clash.
The last four clashes featuring the Magpies and the Villans have seen the teams cover the 2.5 Goals line, with three of those encounters seeing the sides cover the 3.5 Goals line and we could be in for an entertaining encounter.
BTTS
We saw BTTS Yes happen in both clashes between Newcastle United and Aston Villa last time out and the bookies are anticipating the same thing occurring here. At the time of writing, three of the previous four encounters featuring the Magpies saw both teams find the net, including that 3-3 draw with Liverpool and a 4-2 defeat against Brentford.
Three of the previous Aston Villa clashes have seen BTTS Yes happen at the time of writing, with a 3-1 success against Brentford coming before a 1-0 triumph over Southampton. Then came an exciting 3-2 success away to RB Leipzig before a 2-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest where the opposition had six shots on target compared to their opponents’ two.
Considering the firepower that both teams have, it’s easy to see this being a BTTS Yes game. We actually like the idea of combining a Newcastle win with BTTS Yes, considering that you can get a bigger price by going for this selection. You might even want to consider a correct score bet along the lines of 3-1 and 3-2 in favour of the Tyneside outfit.
First Goalscorer
Alexander Isak is the first port of call when it comes to betting on First Goalscorer in Newcastle home matches. The Swede is enjoying a fruitful season in front of goal, with seven netted and the goals started raining towards the end of October. The forward bagged in four consecutive games and has found the net in his past three matches at the time of writing.
The £63 million signing looks to be the best option here, although it was Jacob Murphy who scored twice against Leicester and he’s likely to be given the nod in the right wing position, with a number of chances recently falling to this player, while Anthony Gordon is the other player who can get in among the goals.
Aston Villa have plenty of firepower themselves. Ollie Watkins might not have hit the heights of last season, although the England forward has seven goals on the board this term. Perhaps a better option could be Jhon Duran who is clearly itching for game time and proving his worth when he does get on to the pitch.
The Colombian has eleven goals in all competitions and he has scored in three consecutive matches at the time of writing. A Bet Builder featuring Isak and Duran to score can deliver a potential return and we can also see a number of cards being brandished.