Michael Owen predicts West Brom defeat v Newcastle in FA Cup
Michael Owen has tipped his former club Newcastle United to dump West Brom out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night.
Newcastle travel to The Hawthorns without a win in their last five Premier League games and without a goal in their last four.
Allan Saint-Maximin, who scored to help the Magpies beat Oxford United in the last round, is also a doubt for the fifth-round showdown with the Baggies, who are top of the Championship.
However that has not stopped Owen from saying that West Brom will lose under the floodlights this week because he reckons Slaven Bilic’s side will have prioritised promotion from the Championship above a run in the FA Cup.
“Newcastle are hosted by West Brom having edged past Oxford in the fourth round, owing to a moment of magic from Allan Saint-Maximin,” said Owen on the BetVictor website.
“The Baggies are riding high in the Championship and I think they’ll have the blinkers on for promotion. As a result, I can see their cup run being ended by a United side whose only chance of silverware this season is the FA Cup.”
Owen’s wrong.
West Brom beat West Ham away at the London Stadium in the last round of the FA Cup even though Bilic named a second-string side.
Albion’s priority may be winning promotion to the Premier League this season but that doesn’t mean a rotated squad cannot do a number on Newcastle this weekend.
Plus, it’s not as if Steve Bruce has nothing to worry about in the Premier League as his side are edging closer and closer to the relegation zone each week.
West Brom fans may see this as a more winnable fixture than the one at West Ham so do not write the Baggies off yet.
In other West Brom news, this in-form player must make way for a returning Albion star.