Newcastle United will remain in the top four if they can earn an away victory at Brighton this weekend.

It’s a scenario that very few football observers would have predicted after Newcastle’s stuttering start to the campaign when they lost to Tottenham Hotspur then Huddersfield Town.

But confidence is high in the camp and at 9/5 for the win with William Hill, United are a decent bet to take another three points.

Lee Ryder’s prediction

We may only be in September but Brighton already find themselves under pressure to pick up points in the Premier League.

It may have felt like a dream when Chris Hughton’s side found themselves on the brink of winning the title last season, but since then they spluttered their way to second place and have experienced what can only be described as a reality check in the first few weeks of the season.

In fairness, few would have expected Brighton to have many more than four points on the board from five games.

But it won’t get much easier if Brighton fail to beat Newcastle and could mean a long wait for more points for the Seagulls with tough away games at Arsenal and West Ham to come with a crunch game against fellow strugglers Everton on home soil also coming up.

Newcastle have confidence from their great run of results and are developing a knack of carving out results so this could be another enjoyable away day for the Magpies.

Rafa Benitez will have a few things up his sleeve to make that happen.

Referee

Andre Marriner (West Midlands)

Jonjo Shelvey needs to be on his best behaviour as he comes face to face with the man who showed him a red card against Spurs.

Charity bet

Newcastle to win at 9/5.