Scousebound! Newcastle United vs Liverpool match preview.
Posted on March 31st, 2012 | 19 Comments |
Date: Sunday, 1st April, 2012.
Kick-Off: 1.30pm (Sky TV).
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W.Yorks).
Well, Newcastle United might well be going into this fixture feeling more confident than they have for quite some time against the reds of Merseyside.
King Kenny’s men have lost their last two Premiership games, and they were against Premiership bottom feeders, Wigan and QPR, to boot. They have lost no less five of their last six Premiership games, though the other one was a 3-0 victory over local rivals, Everton, with a hat-trick from Steven Gerrard. This very poor run, especially by their usual standards, leaves them eight points behind us in the table in seventh, with an ever decreasing amount of games to catch up.
One thing Liverpool do have though that we don’t so far is a guaranteed place in Europe, not to mention a trophy already this season. This is something we haven’t managed for a whole 43 years now, and in that period, the scousers have won no less than eleven League Championships, five European Cups, three UEFA Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, six FA Cups, eight League Cups and twelve Charity Shields, though one or two of the Charity Shields were shared.
Moving on swiftly from that rather sorry comparative statistic though, this match of course will see the return of Andy Carroll to St James’, which my collegue, Hugh, has already covered in this story.
Stats, previous matches etc…
Well, I’ve already mentioned Liverpools dismal form in their last six games, gathering only three points from a potential eighteen. Newcastle’s on the other hand looks much better now with two wins in our last two games, with two draws and two losses in the four before that. Looking at things from another angle though, Liverpool have won six of their last seven Premiership games against the Magpies. As for their record at St James’ Park, that looks much better with our last home encounter being a 3-1 win for Alan Pardew’s first game in charge. For the last six it has been (latest first): W-L-L-W-L-W.
Andy Carroll has been said to be having a very poor run of form since he was sold for that eye watering amount to tomorrow’s visitors, however, there is one Carroll statistic which I found to be very interesting. In the past seven matches where Carroll has started, Liverpool have won all but one of them, and they drew the other. On the other hand, of the last seven games they have left him on the bench, they lost five and drew two.
Kenny Dalglish was out of management for quite a while before he made a surprisng return to management under Liverpool’s new owners. One thing he would probably rather forget on this return to Tyneside is his last game at St James Park. It was as Newcastle United manager for the second game of the 1998-99 season, and after the Mags ground out a dour 0-0 draw against Charlton, he was promptly sacked by then chairman “Fat” Freddy Shepherd after some 20 months at the helm. In his time at St James’ though, he did manage to finish as runner up in both the Premiership and the FA Cup (losing to Arsenal in the final), and also, who could forget our 3-2 defeat of Barcelona in the Champions League with a hat-trick from Faustino Asprilla.
Of course, Alan Pardew is our manager now, and viewed largely as a success so far where Dalglish was often derided. However the Silver Supremo’s record so far is fairly similar to that of Dalglish, as you can see below.
| Chuckles vs the Silver Supremo at Newcastle | ||||||
| P | W | D | L | Win % | League Positions | |
| Dalglish | 78 | 30 | 22 | 26 | 38.46% | 2nd, 13th. |
| Pardew | 58 | 23 | 17 | 18 | 39.66% | 12th. |
Here’s a look at Newcastle’s and Liverpool’s last six Premiership games. With Liverpool’s recent dire form, it’s no surpise that ours is much better.
| Last six Premiership games (Premiership) | ||||||
| Team | Results | P | W | D | L | Pts |
| Liverpool | L-L-W-L-L-L | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3/18 |
| Newcastle United | W-L-D-D-L-W | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8/18 |
Finally, there is our home form vs Liverpool’s away form in the Premiership, and it doesn’t make any better reading for the scousers! Meanwhile, our home form is better with four wins and no losses.
| Last six Premiership games (Premiership) | ||||||
| Team | Results | P | W | D | L | Pts |
| Newcastle United | W-D-D-W-W-W | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 14/18 |
| Liverpool | L-L-L-W-L-L | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3/18 |
All of which makes makes very happy reading for we Magpies. But if I may pull out a few footballing cliches, football isn’t played on paper, it’s a funny old game and you never can tell with a wounded animal! Fingers crossed though, if we can pull of our third victory in a row, it would leave us in great shape for a final push for the fifth Euro place.
Team news and squads
Newcastle United
Well, three of our players have faced a tight call after coming back from relatively minor knocks. Good news is that Cheick Tiote (Hip) and Ryan Taylor (Calf) are definitely back in contention according to the club. New boy, Papiss Cisse, was stretchered off in the last game too, but it was just a nasty bit of cramp and he should be OK too. Another casualty in that game, Captain Coloccini, will be out for a game or two after knacking his hamstring though, as will the more long term crocks, Steven Taylor, Sylvain Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi, Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands. Finally, one source is suggesting that Gabriel Obertan faces a late fitness call, but there has been nothing official about it so I’m pencilling him in anyway.
Squad: Tim Krul (G), Rob Elliot (G), Steve Harper (G), Mike Williamson (D), Davide Santon (D), Yohan Cabaye (M), Hatem Ben Arfa (M), Jonás Gutiérrez (M), Danny Guthrie (M), Cheick Tiote (M), Gabriel Obertan (M), James Perch (D, M), Ryan Taylor (D, M), Dan Gosling (M), Haris Vučkić (M), Shane Ferguson (M), Mehdi Abeid (M), Ryan Donaldson (M, F), Demba Ba (F), Papiss Cissé (F), Shola Ameobi (F).
Injured: Fabricio Coloccini (hamstring), Leon Best (knee), Sylvain Marveaux (groin), Sammy Ameobi (knee), Peter Lovenkrands (thigh), Steven Taylor (achilles).
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Liverpool
There are only two definite injuries for the scousers, Charlie Adam and Lucas with their knees. However there’s a fairly long list of highly doubtfuls for them with Daniel Agger (rib), Craig Bellamy (calf), Glen Johnson (calf), Martin Kelly (ankle), and finally, Jack Robinson (ankle).
Squad: Pepe Reina (G), Alexander Doni (G), Martin Hansen (G), Jamie Carragher (D), Martin Škrtel (D), José Enrique (D), Fábio Aurélio (D), Sebastián Coates (D), Conor Coady (D), Jon Flanagan (D), Steven Gerrard (M, C), Jay Spearing (M), Dirk Kuyt (M, F), Stewart Downing (M), Maxi Rodríguez (M), Jordan Henderson (M), Jonjo Shelvey (M), Raheem Sterling (M), Andy Carroll (F), Luis Suárez (F), Nathan Eccleston (F),
Injured: Charlie Adam (knee), Lucas (knee).
Doubtful: Daniel Agger (rib), Craig Bellamy (calf), Glen Johnson (calf), Martin Kelly (ankle), Jack Robinson (ankle).
Suspended: None.
What the managers have been saying
Both managers had something to say about Andy Carroll, and Jose Enrique too. Whilst Carroll has got off to a difficult start at Anfield, Enrique seems to have settled in rather well at Anfield, with both of them having picked up their first winner’s medal already. But beginning with the other stuff, Alan Pardew paid tribute to Liverpool’s illustrious trophy winning history, something which has sadly eluded the Magpies in recent years. On this he said:
“They are a club steeped in tradition of winning trophies. They have won another one this year and that’s what they’ve done. We haven’t got that tradition unfortunately and we need to try and gain it. But we have had a great season in the Premier League, and we are trying to continue that on Sunday against what is a very talented team.”
Pardew also looked back at his previous encounters with the reds over the years, including his positive start with the Magpies, as well as some more negative ones in the past. He reminisced:
“Liverpool brings out no middle ground for me.
“I have been beaten by them 9-0; I won a semi-final when they probably had the strongest team they have ever had and we should never have won; I was winning with 90 minutes on the clock in the FA Cup final and I was denied, and we should have won in extra-time, so that was another massive low.
“Then obviously, my first game here was a massive win, very, very important for my tenure and everything else that has gone on since.
“There is no middle ground, so expect fireworks either really negatively or really positively.”
But moving on to the inevitable, the Silver Supremo had this to say about the Bensham Bomber (and his difficulties):
“Andy is an outstanding footballer who is having a difficult first full season at a new club, nothing more than that.
“A lot of other players have had that situation with high price tags. But he is a young man still, has a great career in front of him and I for one hope he has another chance at England duty one day.
“Andy was magnificent here and you cannot deny that. You don’t get a price tag of £35 million unless you have done very, very well, which he had.
“And down in the changing room and in the tunnel we are looking forward to seeing Andy and Jose – they are good friends of ours and we will welcome them back with open arms.
“We are looking forward to seeing them, but we don’t want to see them win. We want to make sure we win, and that will be our focus.”
Moving on to Dalglish, he looked back on his time at Newcastle, remarking:
“It’s not the first old club I’ve been back to. I enjoyed the people I worked with, the people I worked for, and they’ve got fantastic supporters. They get right behind their side and it’s a fantastic place to go and play football. It’s a great city that should be proud of its football club. This year Alan Pardew has done a fantastic job getting to where they are in the league. I’m looking forward to going back.”
Then, once again, the subject turned to Carroll, with Dalglish unsure whether the fans would abuse him after Magpies fans were misled about the circumstances of his departure by Toon’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias. On this King Kenny commented:
“I’m not sure Andy will get abuse because what happened was outside his control. It’s up to them what they want to do. They pay their entrance money and, if they want to give him stick, they will give him stick. But I don’t think he ever did anything other than give of his best for Newcastle, and then they got £35m into the bargain as well. That’s not bad, is it?
“I think Andy will be excited about going back. It’s the club he supported as a boy, the club that introduced him and gave him his chance in professional football. So I think he will be excited about it as a local boy and will be looking forward to the game. José Enrique had a few years up there too, and he will be looking forward to it as well.”
Meanwhile, Carroll himself also had something to say to local rag, the Chronic.
He spoke about the forthcoming return to St James’, his time at Newcastle, and how he wouldn’t celebrate if he scored. Over to Andy:
“If I scored on Sunday then I wouldn’t celebrate. I hope I get a good reception from the fans, they’ll be getting one from me.
“I thought I did well for the club when I was there and loved it. I have some great memories from playing there. I have always had a good relationship with the Newcastle fans and it stems back to playing for them.
“I still love the club and have a lot of friends still at Newcastle. I always want to see them doing well. I want to do well for Liverpool of course. But when I come off the pitch playing for Liverpool, how Newcastle have got on is the first score I look for. That will always be the case. I want to see them win because I’m still a fan.”
Well, that just about wraps it up for this preview, except to say that we will be here for our usual “match banter” post which will go out about an hour before kick-off, along with our reports, highlights etc after the game so stay tuned!
Here’s hoping for a third victory in a row!
Howay the Lads!
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1095 articles on this blog.
To repeat, IMO Carroll was placed between a rock and a hard place, with little time to consider, he was no doubt, put under enormous pressure by Ashley, Llambias and undoubtably his (Mr. 10%)agent,to accept the deal on offer.
Of course he is not entirely blameless and it’s rumored he attempted to gain an increase in wages to stay, whether thats true or not ?
And he did receive more dosh and an opportunity to play for what most would consider a bigger and more succesful club.
Whether he now considers he made the right move or not, is water under the bridge.
Fact is we (NUFC) received an amount, that more than justified his worth and should’nt have any hard feelings to-wards the kid.
So IMO let it go !