Newcastle vs FK Qarabag Predictions

• Newcastle beat Qarabag 6-1 in Azerbaijan last week
• The Magpies have won their last three Champions League games at St James’ Park 3-0, 2-0 and 3-0
• Qarabag have lost their last three Champions League away games 1-3, 0-2 and 0-6

Fringe men to fire Magpies to another win

Newcastle won the tie in Baku last week and should only increase their 6-1 aggregate lead over Qarabag in Tuesday’s return leg at St James’ Park. Eddie Howe’s side did all the hard work in the opening 45 minutes as they raced into a 5-0 lead at the break.

The second half was just about keeping it simple and avoiding injury, which they did, although the energy they saved was not enough to get them another good result against Manchester City the following Saturday. This game presents Howe woth a great chance to rest and rotate his players ahead of trickier tests to come.

The likes of Jacob Murphy, Jacob Ramsey, Will Osula and perhaps even Aaron Ramsdale could come into the starting XI while this match will be an opportunity for Harvey Barnes to break his nine-game scoring drought. Barnes started in Baku but was benched against City after failing to register with any of his six shots last Wednesday.

Qarabag may have given up the ghost

Qarabag have had a weekend off to lick their wounds after their league game against Netfchi was postponed in advance. Interestingly, they have announced plans to fly out for the second leg on the day before the game – in the afternoon – meaning they will not be in their hotel until midnight at the earliest on Monday.

That is hardly ideal, but perhaps shows how little they expect to gain from the trip to Tyneside. Coach Gurban Gurbanov admitted his players could not control the game when the Magpies were on top and that his team could not handle the pace and intensity of the Premier League side.

If they are unable to find a way to cope with that on Tuesday then we can expect another heavy defeat. The Horseman lost 6-0 at Anfield to a motivated Liverpool side, so perhaps a 3-0 scoreline could be on the cards against a carefree United outfit.

Back Magpies to win to nil

That scoreline has been achieved in two of Newcastle’s last three Champions League home games – against Benfica and PSV. Both of those clubs finished within a point or two of Qarabag in the group stage and did not travel to the North East with any feeling that it was a waste of time.

Back Howe’s side to put on enough of a show for the Geordie faithful to get into a three-goal lead before throttling down. A win to nil looks about the best value in the betting markets because Qarabag have failed to register in their last two away Champions League trips to Merseyside and Naples, recording a combined xG of less than 0.7 across the two games.