- Team form: Newcastle are unbeaten in their last 5 games, winning 3 and drawing 2.
- Recent form: Hull City are in mixed form, having lost to Sunderland.
- Attack vs defence: Hull City are more prolific in attack than they are defensively this season.
St James’ Park set for a showdown between Magpies and Tigers
Newcastle welcome Hull City to St James' Park on Saturday, and the hosts' superior form, record, and confidence should see them through this encounter. However, the Tigers are unbeaten on the road this season and they have enough bite to make this game interesting.
Newcastle are 8th in the Premier League 2026/2027 with five points from their first three games, while Hull are 3rd with eight points from their four matches. The Magpies haven't won either of their home matches in the Premier League 2026/2027, so St James' Park is yet to see a Newcastle win this term. Meanwhile, Hull have won one and drawn one of their two Premier League 2026/2027 away days.
- Newcastle have been unbeaten in their last three games in all competitions, a 2-0 win at Tottenham in the Premier League 2026/2027, a 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth in the Premier League 2026/2027 and a 1-0 win at Millwall in the EFL Cup 2026/2027.
- Hull, meanwhile, have won two, drawn two and lost one of their last five in all competitions, with their most recent two outings being a 1-0 defeat at Sunderland in the EFL Cup 2026/2027 and a 2-2 draw at Chelsea in the Premier League 2026/2027.
Tigers have the bite to bite back
Tactical approach
Matthias Jaissle's 4-3-3 system for Newcastle is built around pressing hard and transitioning quickly, and they should enjoy playing against a team who like to sit deep and counter attack. They will look to squeeze Hull high up the pitch and can punish them if they don't have the ball.
Head-to-head and contest
This should be a classic Magpies vs Tigers clash, with Newcastle liking the 2-0 scoreline from the last head-to-head in their favour as they won that game without conceding. Sergej Jakirovic's Hull like to pack the middle of the field and counter, and they can be really tough to crack. However, Newcastle should have too much quality to be denied a victory, even if Hull's unbeaten away record suggests they can keep things tight before the Magpies' quality tells.
Newcastle to edge a close game
Betting view
The bookmakers don't see it that way, and the odds of 1.44 for Newcastle, 6.6 for Hull and 4.5 for the draw make absolutely no sense to me. With BTTS available at 1.73, I'm going for both teams to score, which is the next best thing to the win-draw-win market in this game. Newcastle to win is my main pick, and I also expect this to be an entertaining game.
Players to watch
Anthony Elanga has been Newcastle's best player in the Premier League 2026/2027 so far, having bagged two goals in three appearances, while Harvey Barnes is the top scorer in the club's last five with four goals to his name. Liam Millar is the Hull scorer in the Premier League 2026/2027 with one goal in two games, and Mohamed Belloumi has scored two of their four goals across their last five games.
