Newcastle v Aston Villa – Match preview.
Posted on August 20th, 2010 | 184 Comments |
In that match, Newcastle ended the game with just eight men on the pitch after Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer decided to have a scrap (as pictured), which resulted in red cards for the pair of them.
Then Steven Taylor also saw red for what can now be described as one of the funnier moments on the football pitch. The red was for deliberate handball and preventing a goal, but it was the way that Taylor tried to get away with it that will be remebered most. Watch this video to refresh your memories. Good times eh? Anyway, getting back on track, Villa have a pretty awful record at St James’ Park.
Our home record was fantastic last season, in fact we won 18 out of the 23 matches played at St James’ Park. Granted, the opposition is that bit tougher this season, but Newcastle can use last season for inspiration and help to turn St James’ back into the fortress it once was.
One thing we will need to be wary of is the pace of Aston Villa. There is no doubt that they have a team who can damage anyone on the break, which is probably why they have such an impressive away record. They can soak up the pressure that the home team will inevitably put on them and then counter with their pace. That resulted in Villa having the third best away record in the Premier Legaue last season.
Danny Guthrie and Peter Lovenkrands will be looking to return to first team action after being forced to sit out the 3-0 defeat against Manchester United with minor knocks. Dan Gosling is obviously out until the new year and Steven Taylor is still some months away from a return. Sol Campbell is approaching full fitness but it is expected that the match against Villa will come to soon for him to make his debut.
Team selection is a big question mark for Newcastle. On one hand, the onus will be on us (youe see what I did there?) to attack Villa as we are the home team. On the other hand I expect that making sure we keep things tight will also be near to the top of Chris Hughton’s agenda. I would like to see this team in a 4-4-2, although it does depend on the fitness of Lovenkrands and Guthrie and whether or not Hughton will accomodate club captain Kevin Nolan.
Newcastle – Steve Harper, James Perch, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Wayne Routledge, Danny Guthrie (or Kevin Nolan), Joey Barton, Jonas Gutierrez, Andy Carroll, Peter Lovenkrands.
Aston Villa will more than likely give Steven Ireland a debut after his arrival from Manchester City midweek. John Carew has a chance of being fit but it is thought that the match will come to soon for Gabby Agbonlahor, Steve Sidwell, James Collins and Carlos Cuellar who all look likely to miss out.
Newcastle have not lost to Aston Villa at St James’ Park since that now infamous match that I mentioned earlier, and have averaged a goal a game in the last 15 games against The Villans. Newcastle are also surprisingly strong in their first home game of season having not lost their SJP opener since 2004, and we have only conceded one goal in all of those opening home games combined.
It will be a tough game, but I believe that there was enough shown against Manchester United on Monday to suggest we can be a handful for a lot of teams this season. Aston Villa are missing a few players aswell, which could hopefully help us out as we look to kick-start our season.
My prediction – Newcastle 2-1 Aston Villa
Howay the lads!
P.S – Don’t forget to vote in our poll. I want to see how YOU think we will do.
Date – Sunday, 22nd August, 2010.
Time – 13:30 (British time).
Venue – St James’ Park, God’s Country (Newcastle).
Postby nufc1892 »
Hatem Ben Arfa had clear the air talks with Olympique Marseille and is expected to travel to Newcastle on Friday morning ahead of a medical. The deal is in the region of £800,000 for a one year loan deal with an option of a £7.3M purchase at the end of the season.
More to follow tomorrow…..