Having both struggled for cutting edge so far this season, Al Hain-Cole doesn't expect much goalmouth action when Bruce's men face the Hornets
The Premier League’s bottom two will meet at St James’ Park on Saturday as Newcastle United take on Watford.
Steve Bruce went some way to lifting the gloom around the club by masterminding a 1-0 away win over Tottenham last weekend, putting an end to a run of two defeats from two.
Having run out 1-0 winners in last season’s home game against this opposition, his side are 29/20 (2.45) favourites with bet365 to come out on top in front of their own fans.
The Hornets have begun the league season with three consecutive defeats, but can be backed at 19/10 (2.90) to get off the mark with a victory here.
Just one of the last 10 encounters between this pair has resulted in a draw, but you can get odds of 11/5 (3.20) on this once finishing up all square.
DeAndre Yedlin, Florian Lejeune, Dwight Gayle, Andy Carroll and Allan Saint-Maximin are all unlikely to feature. Miguel Almiron and Joelinton could return after missing Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash with Leicester due to minor injuries.
Adalberto Penaranda is back in contention after scoring his first goal for the club on his return from injury in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup victory over Coventry.
With just three goals between them after three marches, it is not hard to see why this pair are propping up the league at this early stage.
This lack of cutting edge is not new, with only the bottom three and Brighton having scored fewer goals than the Magpies last season, while Javi Gracia’s men have now found the net just four times in their last seven league matches.
With a tight match looking likely, odds of 8/11 (1.73) seem generous on under 2.5 goals being scored for the fourth successive meeting between Newcastle and Watford.
All odds correct at time of publish. Please gamble responsibly.