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Eddie Howe is confident his Newcastle United players can build on their “massive” victory over Southampton ahead of facing Fulham in the Premier League this Saturday.
Howe watched on as his side came from a goal down to dispatch the division’s bottom club with ease, moving up to fifth in the standings and a point behind the top four.
What pleased the Magpies boss the most was the creativity his players showed after falling to a heavy 4-1 defeat in their last home league clash against Bournemouth.
Newcastle ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.93 from their 17 shots at Alex McCarthy’s goal, and Howe wants to see more of the same this time around.
“I thought a massive win for us after last week, that was really tough to take,” Howe said. “The performance and the result [against Bournemouth] weren’t anywhere near what we have been of late.
“So I think the game, especially conceding so early, was a huge response from the players. It would have been a moment that we needed to respond and dig deep and we did.
“I thought we played really well in that first half. I thought we were excellent and, yes, a great response to conceding.
“We looked creative. I thought we had a good feeling about us, maybe not so much in the last half an hour, but certainly in the first 60 minutes. Scored some good goals, could have scored more.”
Fulham, meanwhile, were beaten late against Manchester United in their last Premier League encounter, with Lisandro Martinez’s deflected effort the difference.
The Cottagers are now winless in their last five Premier League home games (D4 L1) since a 3-1 win over Brighton at the start of December. Indeed, this was just the second time they’ve failed to score on home soil in the top-flight this term (0-0 vs Southampton in December).
But they have fond memories on their travels, with their last away fixture in the top-flight seeing them beat Leicester City 2-0 earlier this month.
Marco Silva’s side sit 10th in the table with European football not off the table just yet, but the Fulham boss confirmed that he would be without influential midfielder Harry Wilson, who picked up an injury in the defeat to United.
Silva is also without defender Kenny Tete, and suggested that arrivals in those positions could be imminent ahead of Monday’s transfer deadline.
“Not good news for Harry Wilson,” Silva said at his press conference on Thursday. “Wilson needs surgery — he’s going to be out for a long period. Maybe 10 weeks.
“Of course, we are going to try. We are trying to get a player for his [Tete’s] position. We are looking for that position.
“And of course, after the injury to Harry Wilson, we are looking for a player in that position [too]. It doesn’t work in our favour because it’s a very short period of time until the end of the window!”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Newcastle – Alexander Isak
Since the start of December, Newcastle striker Isak has scored more Premier League goals than any other player (13), also outscoring six different teams in that time.
He is now second amongst the Magpies’ leading Premier League scorers (48 goals), behind Alan Shearer on 148, while he needs one goal to become the leading Swedish scorer. He is level with Freddie Ljungberg currently.
Fulham – Alex Iwobi
Iwobi was Fulham’s most present threat in their 1-0 defeat to Manchester United last time out, and he will be key for the Cottagers if they are to get anything from the game.
He has played the most progressive passes of any player in the Premier League this season (132), while of players to attempt 500+ passes only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (15.3%) has played a higher percentage of those passes progressively than Iwobi (14.5%).
MATCH PREDICTION: NEWCASTLE WIN
Newcastle have won seven of their last eight Premier League matches (L1), winning the most points of any side across their last eight games (21), while only Liverpool (25) have scored more goals than the Magpies (22) in this spell.
The Magpies are also unbeaten in their last eight top-flight home games against Fulham (W5 D3), keeping six clean sheets in that run since a 1-0 loss in May 2009.
And Howe’s side have also shown their powers of recovery this term. Only Manchester City (17) have won more points from losing positions in the Premier League this season than Newcastle (15). The Magpies have won four games after conceding first in 2024-25, their most in one campaign since 2002-03 (four), last doing so more often in 2001-02 (nine).
Fulham, meanwhile, won the reverse fixture against Newcastle 3-1 in September, but only in 2006-07 and 2008-09 have they completed the Premier League double over the Magpies.
The Cottagers have also impressed away from home. They have picked up 16 points in 11 away Premier League games this season (W4 D4 L3), only two fewer than they managed last season (18 in 19 games). Their 1.45 points-per-game on the road in 2024-25 is their best tally in a single Premier League season.
And continuity has been key for Silva’s side. Fulham are the only side to have more than one player play every single minute of every game in the Premier League this season (Bernd Leno and Antonee Robinson), while Robinson is one of four outfielders to do so this season, along with Illia Zabarnyi, Nathan Collins and Virgil van Dijk.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Newcastle – 55.3%
Draw – 23%
Fulham – 21.6%
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