Paul Merson Thinks Newcastle Will Struggle To Make The Top 10 This Season

The Sky Sports pundit thinks NUFC will finish below Aston Villa, Leicester and West Ham.

by Matt Smith

Newcastle United are yet to win a Premier League match under Steve McClaren and currently sit 19th in the table with two points from four games.

Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson has predicted that the Magpies will struggle again this season and believes they will finish in 15th place come the end of May.

It's tough to make an accurate prediction so early in the season but it does seem that Merson thinks both of the North East teams will struggle as he's placed Sunderland in the bottom three.

Merson said:

€œNewcastle are about the same as West Ham. I like Steve McClaren, he€™s a good manager, and I think they will just consolidate this year and don€™t want to be in a relegation battle.

"I want to see Sunderland stay up - it's a big football club - but I always think, when you're down there season after season then sooner or later you'll get caught in it and drop like Wigan did."

The former Arsenal midfielder showed how impressed he has been with Crystal Palace this season by predicting them to finish in fifth place behind the regular top four.

Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-accredited football writer with an MA in Sports Journalism. What Culture football editor. Write for the official Newcastle United programme. Former video reporter at North News. Featured and published in the Sunderland Echo, Shields Gazette, Mail Online, The Mirror, The Sun and others.