The first Champions League match at St. James’ for over two decades features Newcastle taking on French giants PSG in what is sure to be a fascinating encounter. Newcastle have had a rocky first few matches this season, as they faced the likes of City and Liverpool early (and lost 1-0 and 1-2 respectively) on but have since then kept a clean sheet in their last 4 outings, including a draw at the San Siro, an 8-0 battering of Sheffield United and a win against Man City in the cup. The Champions League is a whole different animal however, and facing PSG’s front three will be a mighty challenge for Botman and company.
PSG comfortably beat Dortmund at home last time around, but have themselves started quite slowly in Ligue 1, where they sit in 5th place, albeit 2 points from top spot. Mbappe will look to impress, as he is still without a Champions League trophy, but getting past Newcastle’s staunch defence is a feat in itself, as AC Milan can attest. Newcastle can consider themselves lucky to have come away from Milan with a point, however, they consolidated their backline in a fantastic manner, and have been conceding little-to-no chances in recent weeks: but will that be enough to stop the best player in the world?
This is yet another hard-to-call encounter in this year’s Champions League group stage, but simply for the firepower in attack and the higher degree of experience in this competition, we’ll give PSG a very slight edge, although it wouldn’t be surprising if St. James’ atmosphere carried Newcastle to a result against the French contingent. Playing Mbappe to score is an excellent choice, and likewise with Isak, who looks to be the player that decides important matches for Newcastle, such as the one against Man City in the Carabao Cup. Otherwise, if you wanna take a bit of a risk, play NO on “Both Teams to Score.”
