Fulham v Newcastle United – Match Preview
Posted on January 20th, 2012 | 28 Comments |
This inconsistency could, of course, be partly due to their squad being stretched to it’s limits with their extra games in the Europa League. They are no longer involved in that particular competition following a draw with Odense which ended their interest. As a result however, the game against Newcastle United will be Fulham’s 38th match of the season, and more than one commentator has been heard to remark that they have looked a bit tired lately. Lets hope that continues for at least one more game!
2012 got off to a good start for Fulham with an impressive 2-1 home victory over London rivals Arsenal, and this was followed by a 4-0 victory over another London team, Charlton, in the FA Cup – also at Craven Cottage. Then the inconsistency kicked in when they travelled to struggling Blackburn last weekend and lost 3-1. The danger for United is that Fulham have a pretty good home record, having lost only to Everton, Spurs and Manchester United.
By way of contrast United should be full of confidence as they are undefeated in 2012 with three straight wins against Manchester United and Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League and Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup. Richard Branson’s lucky Virgin Money shirt logo only saw us concede one goal in those games, with six going in at the right end. It has to be said though, that those three games were all at St James’ Park.
The other thing worth mentioning is that Craven Cottage is not a ground where United have a good record – see the “recent statistics” section below. However, records are there to be broken – I mean we hadn’t beaten Manchester United since 2002 but took them apart 3-0 in front of 52,299 at St James Park on 4th January. (Didn’t think I was going to get that mention in for a while there!). Whilst Fulham’s ground is old fashioned, the pitch is always in good nick, which might just suit the current United style of play.
As usual, we’ll try to identify some useful streaming links before the game for those of us who won’t be there. If you know of any good links yourself, bring them along to our regular “match banter” feature, which will be on here around an hour before kick off.
Recent Statistics
We played Fulham at home on 28th August 2011 and won 2-1 so a win would give us our first double of the season. At Craven Cottage, we have won three and lost six of our last nine visits there – no draws in this fixture since 1983/84!
| Year | Score | Scorers |
| 2010-11 | Lost 0-1 | |
| 2008-09 | Lost 1-2 | Ameobi |
| 2007-08 | Won 1-0 | Barton (Pen) |
| 2006-07 | Lost 1-2 | Martins |
| 2005-06 | Lost 0-1 | |
| 2004-05 | Won 3-1 | Ambrose, Kluivert, Ameobi |
| 2003-04 | Won 3-2 | Shearer (2), Robert |
| 2002-03 | Lost 1-2 | Shearer |
| 2001-02 | Lost 1-3 | Speed |
Newcastle United Team News
In spite of statements earlier in the week that Yohan Cabaye was OK, he is actually a doubt for this game having been stretchered off with an ankle injury following a poor tackle by QPR midfielder Shaun Derry last weekend.
Striker Peter Lovenkrands (calf) has returned to training, but central defender Steven Taylor (Achilles) and midfielders Sylvain Marveaux (groin) and Sammy Ameobi (knee) remain on the sick list. And of course Cheick Tiote, Demba Ba and new signing Papiss Demba Cisse are on African Nations Cup duty.
Likely squad: Tim Krul(G), Rob Elliot (G), Steve Harper (G), Danny Simpson, Ryan Taylor, Davide Santon, Shane Ferguson, James Perch, Fabricio Coloccini (C), Mike Williamson, Tamas Kadar, Yohan Cabaye, Gabriel Obertan, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jonas Gutierrez, Dan Gosling, Mehdi Abeid, Danny Guthrie, Haris Vuckic, Leon Best, Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands.
Fulham Team News
Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer will miss his side’s Premier League game with Newcastle tomorrow with a spine injury.
Zdenek Grygera is also out with a long-term knee injury, while Mousa Dembele and Orlando Sa will also miss out with hip and hamstring problems.
Likely Squad: David Stockdale (G), Neil Etheridge (G), Brede Hangeland, Phillipe Senderos, John Arne Riise, Stephen Kelly, Kerim Frei, Steve Sidwell, Danny Murphy, Dixon Etuhu, Clint Dempsey, Bryan Ruiz, Simon Davies, Damien Duff, Aaron Hughes, Chris Baird, Prajtim Kasami, Bobby Zamora, Andrew Johnson
What The Managers Are Saying
Alan Pardew is looking to keep the ship on course whilst some of our key players are away at the Africa Cup of Nations, and hasn’t ruled out a top five or top six finish:
“The more it goes and the closer it gets to the end. I have said all along, that last six games, if we can find ourselves in with a shout, there might be less pressure on us, so we could make an impact.
“We are, after 21 games, the sixth best team, and that’s what we can try to improve on. It would be an absolute marvel if we finished sixth or fifth, but we are going to try, and see where it takes us.”
Prediction
Tough one this, if someone offered me a draw now, I’d take it. What do you think folks?
NUFCBlog Author: UTD111
UTD111 has written 59 articles on this blog.
Very difficult game to predict. We tend not to do well there and Fulham are usually quite good at home.
My team:
Krul
Simpson – Willo – Colo – Santon
Raylor – Guthrie – Abeid – Jonas
Ben Arfa
Best
I wouldn’t play Ameobi. He just doesn’t do enough for the team. I would go with a flexible 4-4-1-1.