Wednesday's Bet Of The Day: Expansive Toon to impress

JACK Wright's (@JackWright_BSB) Bet of the Day continues on Wednesday as we head to the Premier League.

Newcastle vs Sheffield United | Wednesday 19^th May 2021, 20:15 | Sky Sports

An end of season dead rubber isn’t necessarily a first port of call when looking for a solid bet….or is it?

When Steve Bruce scooped the April Manager of the month award the Toon faithful didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and the same could be said as their team celebrated the award by playing out an entertaining seven-goal thriller with Manchester City on Friday night.

Newcastle have definitely had a discernable change of style in the last few weeks although their reversal to the champions means it’s just one win in their last six at St. James' Park – a frailty a Sheffield United side could exploit if they show the same determination as against Everton at the weekend.

That means two of the Blades’ six EPL wins this season have come after their relegation was confirmed, they too seem to be playing better without pressure, which is understandably quite often the way, and for the Magpies their last eight fixtures have averaged four goals per game, some spike from the average of 2.61 seen in their league matches prior to that.

This is all key to the selection of Newcastle to have 15 of more shots.

Paul Heckingbottom's side average 15.1 shots conceded on their road trips this season and there is no reason that will drop in a game where only place prize money is at stake – ie a nothing to lose all to gain scenario.

This is even more the case when you look at Newcastle’s recent output having 11 shots in that aforementioned thriller with Manchester City, they fired 14 away at Leicester, 16 when West Ham visited St. James’ and a mighty 22 in the home game against Spurs – all sides in the top seven.

As for the Yorkshire side in their last four games they have shipped 16 shots at Everton, 21 when a shot shy Crystal Palace visited, 20 in the trip to Spurs and 17 against Brighton at Bramall Lane – none of which able to eclipse their season high concession of 23 shots in the derby at Elland Road last month.