Newcastle United have their sights on a first home win since October.
Michael Owen has told Bet Victor that he expects Newcastle United to edge out Brighton & Hove Albion when Chris Hughton returns to St James’s Park on Saturday.
Newcastle arrested a run of eight defeats in nine Premier League games on Boxing Day by beating West Ham United 3-2 at the London Stadium.
But Rafael Benitez’s side slumped to another defeat in midweek when Manchester City left Tyneside with a hard-fought 1-0 win despite a spirited Magpies performance.
United haven’t won a home game since the last-gap 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace way back in October but the feeling is that Benitez’s troops are well equipped to end their five-match losing streak at St James’s Park when Hughton takes the Seagulls up North tomorrow.
The Brighton boss was sacked as Newcastle boss back in 2010, but Owen believes it will be an unhappy return for the former Republic of Ireland international.
“Newcastle have lost five successive home league games whilst Brighton have lost their last four away games without scoring a goal – something has to give at St James’s Park,” Owen told Bet Victor on Thursday.
“Seagulls boss Chris Hughton has won just one of his seven games against his former club and I expect the hosts to edge what is likely to be a tight, tense affair.”
The North-East outfit are one point and three places above the relegation zone, and three points behind 12th-placed Brighton.
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