Premier League Preview – Newcastle vs Burnley, Tuesday 26th February 2019

While not quite as urgent as it would have been a few weeks ago, both Newcastle and Burnley could still do with putting a bit more distance between them and the relegation zone when they meet at 8pm on BT Sport 1.

A victory is slightly more pressing for the Toon. Heading into Tuesday night, 4 points separate Newcastle and Southampton in 18th place, a gap that could easily be closed if the club finds itself slipping into the kind of form it saw at the very start of the season.

Nevertheless there have been things to celebrate since the New Year began. After winning a mere 4 league games in the first half of the season, Newcastle have already triumphed thrice in 2019, including that shock win over Manchester City. They are also facing a relatively kind run in, with just Arsenal and Liverpool left to re-play out of the current top 6.

They are still, however, in desperate need of some decent firepower up front. Only Huddersfield – who at this point are almost guaranteed to be relegated – have scored less than Newcastle, the Tynesiders putting away a paltry 24 goals in 27 games. On 8 goals total, Salomon Rondon has the dubious honour of being the club’s top scorer, and sits at a Super Mega PGM of 29-35.

If Newcastle have seen a notable improvement in the New Year, Burnley have looked like a side transformed, the kind that would normally follow a shift at the top. The Clarets are unbeaten in their last 8 league games, including an unlucky 2-2 draw at Old Trafford and a massive 2-1 win over Tottenham on Saturday.

That’s seen them claw their way out of the relegation zone, having been camped there over Christmas. They’ve actually now got a 6 point buffer, something they could expand upon if Southampton fail to get anything against fellow drop-battlers Fulham on Tuesday night.

Though the Clarets are yet to lose a league fixture in 2019, the Toon have won all of their home games this year, leading Spreadex to offer a Newcastle/Burnley Goal Supremacy spread of 0.3-0.5, alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.2-2.4.