Newcastle vs Brentford prediction 18.12.2024 | Carabao Cup

• Competition: Carabao Cup, Quarter-Finals
• Date: Wednesday, 18th December, 2024
• Kickoff: 19:45 UK / 20:45 CET
• Venue: St. James' Park (Newcastle)

On Wednesday evening, two Premier League teams, Newcastle and Brentford, will face off in the Carabao Cup Quarter Finals at St. James' Park in Newcastle.

Last year, Newcastle finished 7th and missed Europe by three points. While that season has been considered to be a slight failure, this one pretty much looks like the previous one. The Magpies aren't playing Europe and are focused on the domestic competitions but are currently in 12th place. Still, they are only two points away from 6th-placed Aston Villa and five points away from 4th place and the Champions League spots. So, a couple of good results could move them much further up. But if their PL performance was a slight failure, their games in the Carabao surely aren't, as they managed to eliminate two Premier League sides, Chelsea and Nottingham.

Meanwhile, Brentford are playing a very good season. The Bees are currently tied with Newcastle on the league's table, and reaching Europe looks like a real possibility. The main issue why the Bees aren't even higher on the league's table is due to a terrible road performance this year. In contrast to Newcastle's tough schedule in the Carabao Cup, Brentford had an easy one, considering they haven't faced anyone from the English top-flight division in recent rounds.

Newcastle vs Brentford pick: Over 2.5 goals

While Newcastle's results have been inconsistent, they have been good for this type of bet as they were over 2.5 goals in the last three games with an incredible average of 5.3 goals per game.

Brentford struggles away from home this year. In the last seven games, they won just one point and allowed two or more goals on six occasions. Meanwhile, offensively, they are doing a decent job, considering they scored at least one goal in six out of those seven matches. Due to a terrible defense and an OK offense away from home, the Bees are an excellent team for this bet. During those seven games away from home, they were over 2.5 goals six times - 86%.

These teams met just about ten days ago in the Premier League when we saw a super exciting game and a 4:2 win for Brentford. It was evident that neither team was capable of stopping the other team's offense, and they scored at will. Considering all the above, we expect another high-scoring game, most likely with both teams scoring.