Paul Merson intensive research on Newcastle United once again pays big dividends | OneFootball

Paul Merson is paid these days to give his expert opinion on football, the Premier League in particular.

There has been the ‘occasional’ suspicion in the past that the former Arsenal player might not spend a lot of time doing the essential homework before opening his mouth.

Well this time, Paul Merson has clearly put in some pretty intensive research…which has then paid big dividends.

Merson has been analysing the Newcastle v Bournemouth match on Saturday.

He comes to the conclusion that Newcastle will win 2-0, which fair enough, is probably the kind of scoreline the vast majority of people would anticipate.

Although as this season has already shown for many teams, particularly NUFC, performances don’t always match results. Both the Palace and Wolves matches saw Newcastle dominate but not convert that into wins.

When it comes to Paul Merson and his intensive ‘research’…the entire reasoning for Newcastle winning sees Paul Merson talk about only one thing.

The influence Allan Saint-Maximin will have on Saturday’s match.

Well, ASM may well have a massive influence on how this season goes for Newcastle United, positive or negative, but as for this weekend…

Paul Merson clearly totally unaware that ASM got injured against Wolves last month and hasn’t been seen since. Hasn’t played in any of the matches, hasn’t been in any of the matchday squads, hasn’t even been seen in training, as is the case with the other injured players such as Bruno and Callum Wilson.

I think if Newcastle United dominate like they did against Palace and create a similar amount of chances, or even more, then I do believe we will be celebrating a comfortable home win. Although just like against Crystal Palace, Eddie Howe won’t be able to rely on Paul Merson’s main man, Allan Saint-Maximin.

“Bournemouth came from 2-0 down to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2, but I don’t see them beating Newcastle United away from home.

“Allan Saint-Maximin is a player who has enhanced his reputation this season, but he needs to keep going at it to cement his status as a proven match-winner in the Premier League.

“If he adds goals and assists to his name consistently, the so-called ‘big teams’ will definitely be after him.

“That said, he’s already at a massive club and the fans love him, so there’s no need for him to push for a transfer at this point in time.