Expert Premier League predictions from Mark Langdon: Newcastle to win well

You have got to be in it to win it.

I recently went on a competition-entering spree on Sky VIP with all sorts of weird and wonderful prizes up for grabs, from trips to Los Angeles to tickets for Colchester versus Rochdale.

This week I was notified of a success in the draw: four tickets to Jurassic World Exhibition. If I can be bothered to go I wonder if I will see Juventus manager Max Allegri, who is looking like the last dinosaur standing in elite European football.

Juve were played off the pitch by Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The Lisbon side, managed by one of my favourites from his time in Germany, Roger Schmidt, were a joy to watch in Turin as they won 2-1 and dominated the shot count (17-9), shots on target (7-3), possession (57-43), corners (11-4) and the expected-goals tally (2.2-0.7).

There seems little doubt that Benfica's Argentinian gem Enzo Fernandez will one day end up leaving for a fortune and he might even make a late run to Argentina's World Cup squad. By the way can you believe the World Cup is only two months away? It's madness.

Anyway, back to the convoluted Allegri dinosaur references and he is definitely putting the old into the Old Lady.

Allegri gave a fascinating interview to the New York Times in 2019 when he had left Juventus under the headline "He can have any job he wants. Right now, he doesn't want one."

The US have much to learn about headline puns but if you get past that abomination it is such a revealing insight to perhaps why Allegri didn't actually get another job and instead returned to a desperate Juve two years later.

Allegri admitted to not owning a computer apart from a family iPad, didn't bother seeing how other teams worked during his sabbatical, was sceptical of philosophies and had little interest in data analytics.

Instead, Allegri prefers to trust his own eyes, something that comes from his grandad's background in watching horseracing in Livorno.

"I grew up at the racecourse, with my grandfather," he told the NYT.

"Federico Tesio said that you can tell how a horse will run from the way its legs move in the morning. It is the same with footballers. You have to see how the players move. The eye is the most important thing."

Racing Post historian John Randall described Tesio in 1999 as "perhaps the only genius ever to operate in the breeding world", and added: "When Tesio sold Nearco in 1938, that great unbeaten champion became the most important equine import of the century into Britain."

However, Tesio's methods might not be right for Juventus in 2022.

If Eddie Howe wants to look beyond the results he can be happy with the start his Newcastle team have made, which has featured an impressive 22 shots on target in their three home matches.

Should performances remain strong, wins are likely to follow, starting with a success over Bournemouth, and the hosts are suggested on the Asian handicap minus one goal.

If Newcastle win by two or more the bet wins, it's money back if they win by one and any other outcome is a loser.

Best bet

Newcastle -1 Asian handicap v Bournemouth 3pm Saturday
2pts 3-4 bet365

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