‘If they don’t…’: Paul Merson makes worrying Newcastle United claim

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The Eddie Howe era is set to begin at Newcastle United tomorrow and the excitement in and around St James’ Park is pretty high.

The Magpies are in a terrible position at the moment having failed to win any of their first 11 Premier League games. Steve Bruce was shown the door as a result, but things could really change under Howe and the new owners.

A little over a third of the season is still left to be played and Howe will be telling his players that there’s a lot of time to turn things around.

However, Paul Merson doesn’t think Newcastle have a lot of time left to save themselves from relegation.

Paul Merson makes worrying Newcastle relegation claim

The Englishman wrote in his column on Sportskeeda: “This is a massive game of football in the Premier League.

Newcastle United finally have a new manager in Eddie Howe and they have three winnable games at home coming up. If they don’t get at least seven points in this period, they’ll get relegated.

“They have a terrible run of games after that, so they’ll have to make the most of this one.

“I fancy them to get a narrow victory at home against Brentford.”

A look at NUFC’s fixture list

Merson is right, Newcastle’s next three home games are winnable ones.

The Magpies face Brentford tomorrow and after a difficult away trip to Arsenal, they’ll host Norwich City and Burnley. Howe has to be aiming to pick up wins in all three home games to build the momentum his side need to survive.

Newcastle’s fixtures after the game against Burnley are extremely difficult ones. They face Leicester, Liverpool, the two Manchester clubs and Everton in consecutive games. Getting anything away from those clashes will be a bonus.

Howe has to prioritise the next three home games. Wins in all three are an absolute necessity, but if they fail, they’ll be left with a mountain to climb at the start of the new year.