Chris Waugh, Newcastle United correspondent for The Athletic, insists that Brentford must be wary of the threat posed by Alexander Isak at St James' Park.

Isak, who found the back of the net during the Magpies’ 2-1 victory at Gtech Community Stadium last season, bagged a brace against Aston Villa on the opening day of the Premier League season, but Waugh believes that the striker has a point to prove on Saturday after a ‘quiet’ few weeks for Eddie Howe’s side.

Newcastle have won one of their first four games in the Premier League and sit 14th in the table as a result. How would you summarise what you’ve seen so far?

In terms of the opposition Newcastle have faced, it has been a very difficult start.

An impressive opening-day win over Aston Villa has been followed by a narrow defeat at Manchester City – albeit that they did not play particularly well – then a late loss to Liverpool. In that one, they started well and Liverpool went down to 10 men, though that actually affected Newcastle in a negative sense.

Before the international break, there was a poor performance against Brighton; it just feels like they have lost a little bit of the edge they had last season.

After the first game, it looked as though they had stepped it up a level, but now it seems as though a few of the very big players who performed last season are not quite at their levels. Hopefully this international break will have helped them reset a little bit.

Eddie Howe’s men have been drawn in the so-called ‘Group of Death’ in their first Champions League group stage campaign in over 20 years. What did you make of the draw?

I think it is brilliant for Newcastle. They have not been in the tournament for 20 years and there is no guarantee they will be back in it next season, so they will want to go to places like Milan, Dortmund and Paris.

Yes, it is a very difficult group. Are Newcastle as likely to progress as they would have been had they had a slightly easier group? Probably not. But, at the same time, I also think that, in the case of Dortmund and AC Milan – and to a lesser degree, PSG – there are weaknesses in those sides.

It is a really tantalising group in the sense there are very big names, but also, I do not think it is impossible that Newcastle go through.

I do not think any teams will fancy coming to St James’ Park on a midweek Champions League night – and that is exactly why they want to be back in the competition. It’s is a wonderful draw for them.

What did you make of the club’s summer business?

It was good, but it has left a few question marks among supporters.

Managing to bring in a really classy midfielder in Sandro Tonali from AC Milan, who reached the Champions League semi-final last season, says a lot about where Newcastle are and where they intend to go.

Tino Livramento is really highly rated, and other clubs were looking at Lewis Hall, who has joined from Chelsea.

Harvey Barnes adds a greater number of goals and a directness to the left wing. They have lost Allan Saint-Maximin, which means they are probably more predictable than they were last season, but maybe Barnes will bring more consistency.

The question marks are that the plan was to sign a no.6 and a right-sided centre-back and neither of those arrived in the end.

They also signed two young full-backs who are not necessarily going directly into the first team, so there are question marks as to whether they have actually strengthened the first team.

But Newcastle are really planning for the future. They want to build a team, rather than just sign players for the short term, so I think the business has been good overall.

Which player should Brentford fans keep an eye on?

Alexander Isak is the one they should be looking out for because he needs a performance for Newcastle.

Callum Wilson came on against Brighton and scored, but Isak is the player Howe has selected to lead the line. He was impressive on the opening day, but has been a bit quiet over the last few weeks.

We saw towards the end of last season that Isak is a player who has magic in his boots, as cliché as that is. He can do very special things and lead the line very well. I think he will be determined to make a statement at the weekend.

How is Howe likely to set up at the Gtech?

Howe very much prefers a 4-3-3 formation. The signings over the summer were meant to bring flexibility, but that remains his preference.

Isak will play through the middle. Howe started the season with Anthony Gordon on the left and Miguel Almirón on the right; he may continue with those two, but Barnes may come in for his first start, with Gordon moving to the other side.

In midfield, Bruno Guimarães, Tonali and Joelinton have been his first choices in a midfield three. They have not quite clicked yet, but I would be surprised if he did not try and continue with that trio.

Kieran Trippier will be right-back, Fabian Schar right-sided centre-back, Sven Botman – if he is fit – will be left-sided centre-back, with Dan Burn at left-back and Nick Pope in goal.

Newcastle have won three of the four Premier League meetings so far. What’s your score prediction for this one?

Newcastle need a win and it is a huge week for them – they have got Brentford on Saturday, AC Milan away on Tuesday and the following weekend, they have got Sheffield United away.

This really has to be the week that kickstarts their season and, while I do not think it will be quite as comfortable a scoreline as this fixture last season, I do fancy Newcastle to shade this one 3-1.