No shortage of goals at St. James’ Park?

For the second time this season in the Champions League, the British and Spanish teams will face each other. In the first match, the visitors won 2-1 away. Read our preview of Tuesday evening’s match to find out whether betting on Newcastle vs. Barcelona could be worthwhile for another FCB victory!

The home side’s inconsistent form suggests that the visitors are likely to triumph again. They are only twelfth in the Premier League and only reached the round of 16 in the Champions League after an extra round in the playoffs.

The visitors, on the other hand, are traveling with considerable personnel concerns in defense. In the recent second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal against Atletico Madrid, two important players in this part of the team, Jules Koundé and Alejandro Balde, were injured.

This has further exacerbated the already tense personnel situation in Barca’s defense, which is also missing defender Andreas Christensen. Against this backdrop, the prediction of goals at both ends and more than two goals in the match between Newcastle and Barcelona seems promising, as it was in the last match between the two sides last fall.

Newcastle vs. Barcelona Prediction AI

AI has also taken a look at the match and found value in the odds for a home win. It puts the probability of a three-point win for the British team at 37 percent.

Newcastle – Statistics & current form

The Magpies had to go through the playoffs after the league phase, but they didn’t show any weakness against Agdam. They defeated the team from the north of the country 6-1 away and followed that up with another 3-2 win against the Azerbaijanis at home.

However, it seems that their successes in the Champions League have not given coach Eddie Howe’s team a lasting boost in confidence. Following their victory in the second leg of the Champions League, they suffered two defeats in the domestic league and FA Cup (1-0-2).

However, the Magpies can rely on their home advantage: they have won three of their four home league games in the Champions League, scoring an average of 2.25 goals per game. However, they conceded their only two goals against their upcoming opponents.

Gordon is on fire!

In attack, the St. James’ Park team’s hopes rest primarily on Anthony Gordon. The 25-year-old striker feels particularly at home in the Champions League: with ten goals, the Englishman ranks second in the scoring charts behind Kylian Mbappe (13)!

The only players to have scored more goals for an English team in a European season are Erling Haaland (12 for Manchester City in 2022/23) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (12 for Manchester United in 2002/03). He also scored in the last match against Barca last September.

Barcelona – Statistics & current form

The Catalans have recently been juggling two competitions. The visitors were defeated by Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-final on aggregate. In LaLiga, however, coach Hansi Flick’s team is in first place, four points ahead of their closest rivals, Real Madrid.

The Spaniards are also performing well in the current Champions League campaign. FCB finished the group stage in fifth place, with only leaders Arsenal scoring more goals.

However, the Spanish side’s defense was significantly weaker in comparison. As a result of this combination, all eight of Barcelona’s league games ended with more than 2.5 goals, and with an average of 4.5 goals, the visitors had the highest average alongside Dortmund.

Barcelona builds on strong record against British teams

The Catalans can also draw courage from the statistics: Barcelona has qualified in each of its last five Champions League round of 16 matches against English teams – most recently against Chelsea in February 2018!

The home side should also keep a close eye on Marcus Rashford. The striker has scored the most goals (5) and assists (8) for Barcelona in this season’s Champions League – level with Fermin López.

Rashford has also been directly involved in six goals (4 goals & 2 assists) in seven games against Newcastle at St. James’ Park during his career – including two goals at the start of this season in the league fixture.

Newcastle – Barcelona Head-to-head record / H2H record

As mentioned at the beginning, the teams already faced each other during the previous league phase, with Barcelona securing a 2-1 away win. Thanks to this success, the visitors now have four consecutive wins in the Champions League!

The very first meeting between the two clubs in 1997 in what was then the European Cup ended in a 3-2 home win for the British side. Furthermore, Barcelona have played English opponents 33 times in the knockout stages of the Champions League and have won ten of their last twelve games since 2014.

Newcastle, on the other hand, has faced Spanish opponents six times in the Champions League, recording two wins and four defeats. The odds are now very even for the upcoming clash between Newcastle and Barcelona.

Newcastle – Barcelona Tip

Even though Robert Lewandowski is currently only playing part-time for the visitors due to his physical condition, the hosts can expect a particularly powerful opponent in the form of FCB’s attacking department, which is also very well-balanced. Twenty-two goals in the eight league games before the round of 16 quickly demonstrate this.

However, the home side has also improved offensively recently: in the previous playoffs against Agdam, the British scored no less than nine goals in two games.

Although the home side now faces a much stronger defense, it is weakened in terms of personnel. We therefore do not expect a shortage of goals, and in the match between Newcastle and Barcelona, the prediction of goals from both sides and more than two goals seems promising.

This is also supported by the fact that the home side were already very efficient in attack at home in the league phase, scoring nine goals in four games. On top of that, three of the Catalans’ four away games in the Champions League this season ended in this manner, and in the case of the British team, this has been the norm for a very long time: across all competitions, there have been more than two goals and goals on both sides in Newcastle’s last eleven games!