Newcastle vs Barcelona Predictions

• Newcastle have momentum after their Wolves win, including a third clean sheet in four Premier League games
• Barcelona are likely to be without Lamine Yamal for this trip to St James’ Park
• Barca have failed to win their last two Champions League away games

Champions League football returns to Tyneside

Barcelona begin their Champions League campaign with a tough league phase trip to St James’ Park to face a Newcastle side that now have some momentum after beating Wolves at the weekend.

Eddie Howe’s side earned a vital 1-0 home victory with new signing Nick Woltemade opening his account with a fine back-post header. The German’s movement and link-up play could pose the Barcelona defence plenty of problems again on Thursday.

Valencia asked next to no questions at all of Hansi Flick’s team in a landslide Barca home La Liga victory on Sunday. Los Che were too passive on the ball and fell apart under moderate pressure from the Blaugrana to lose 6-0.

Yamal could be a big miss

It is incomprehensible to think that Howe will send his team out to be as defensive as Champions League football returns to Tyneside. The Magpies always gave it a go at home during their ill-fated and injury-hit campaign two years ago when they beat Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 on a famous night.

Howe’s team are not quite as gung-ho as they were in those days, but they are certainly capable of keeping a Barce team that may be without Lamine Yamal quiet. Yamal is suffering from pain in the pubic bone that flared up while on international duty with Marcus Rashford likely to get the nod to play in his place.

Ferran Torres and Raphinha are the other likely starters in the front trio with Robert Lewandowski working his way back to full match fitness. The Barca midfield is arguably going to be a bigger problem to handle than their forward line, but Newcastle are adept at winning games with the minor share of possession.

Barca may struggle to break down determined hosts

The odds point to a possible away win, but it may be better to side with the hosts to pinch the three points in a closely-fought affair. Barca were held to a 1-1 draw by Rayo Vallecano in their last away game and failed to beat PSG or Borussia Dortmund in their two most recent European road trips.

They were already 4-0 up from the first leg, so the performance in Dortmund raised few eyebrows, but they were flat from the first whistle and could have been two goals down before Dortmund got their first.

Another slow start could be a problem against a Newcastle side that are solid in defence and have wingers that track back to protect the full backs. Backing Howe’s team in the Draw no Bet market seems like a good way to go because the Magpies are not firing on all cylinders yet.