Pundit: Pressure on battered Newcastle, dangerous Villa will counter them

Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson believes Newcastle United have been on a downward spiral since Yohan Cabaye exit, tips Aston Villa to take advantage.

Newcastle United have hit disastrous form in February conceding ten times in three games without registering a single goal, or Premier League point.
Considering that, at the first half of the season, the club were being mention as top six candidates, their form and league position now is in a stark contrast to what it once was and Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson does not believe it is a mere coincidence that their run of heavy losses arrives in the immediate aftermath of the sale of Yohan Cabaye to Paris Saint Germain.
'Newcastle need to be careful that their season doesn't fizzle out and their fans don't get dis-heartened,' said Merson, 45.
'Not long ago they were right up there and a couple of wins could have seen them break into the top six - but then they sold Yohan Cabaye and now they can't win a game for toffee.
'Newcastle have been battered in their last few games against Sunderland, Chelsea and Tottenham [Hotspur] and the pressure is on them,' the former Arsenal and Aston Villa midfielder added, before claiming that the Villans may well be able to take advantage of the situation in the North East, predicting a 2-1 win for Paul Lambert.

'That will play into Aston Villa's hands, who are dangerous away from home and will counter-attack them.'
Form in this fixture, however, favours the home team as Newcastle have won four and drawn three from their last seven matches against Villa in the Premier League.
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