Preview: Newcastle Utd vs Swansea City – 25/04/15

Click here to go to the discussion thread by Cal

What a week. On Sunday we had a boycott of varying effectiveness, depending on your source, but at the very least a sizeable and noticeable portion of the crowd were absent, much like our points haul as we suffered yet another defeat. Carver didn’t want to blame the latter on the former, but then he did so anyway.

The Magpie mastermind then unveiled his latest stratagem:

“We need to come up with a solution, a formula, to win the game. If it means being a little bit more direct, then that’s what we’re going to have to do. I have to find a method of trying to play now that might not be pretty on the eye, but I need to find a way of getting some results, getting some points.”

While we’re on the subject of the club’s supposed leadership picking opportune times to spew verbal diarrhoea; famously media shy captain Coloccini, fresh from suspension for a needless and cowardly lunge, has kindly reminded everyone that he doesn’t want to be here:

“Some day I would go back and be able to play in San Lorenzo and retire there. Last year we had arranged the return to San Lorenzo… It is clear that [NUFC] had to defend their right because I had a contract.”

We go into the match 14th in the table, 5 points above the drop, albeit with one less game to play than three of the teams in the battle. Should Aston Villa manage a win over Man City, we could slip to 15th, and then be in range of Sunderland and 16th next week. The visitors are currently 8th, top of the “best of the rest” table, but still 9 points adrift of the European contention places.

You could argue that Swansea have nothing to play for, and that the loss to Leicester last week shows that they could be there for the taking, but that’s of little comfort when we’re the 6th most out of form side out of 98 European teams. A loss today takes us to seven in a row, a new record for the club in the Premier League, and the longest streak in nearly 40 years.

Team News

The big news is that Siem de Jong is back and will be involved in some form, after putting together a couple of near full match under-21 performances. The surprise is that Facundo Ferreyra is expected to make the bench. I’d like to say the bad is that our wantaway, shadow of his former self of a captain, Fabricio Coloccini is back, but it’s still probably a net positive. Jonás Gutiérrez and John Carver have made up “like men”, so he’s back after missing a game. Papiss Cissé and Moussa Sissoko are still suspended.

Predicted Line-up

I don’t see Carver employing any new tricks, and he recently talked in the press about “being a little more direct” and playing a way “that might not be pretty on the eye.” So he’s abandoning all pretence of tactical awareness and going full hoof, which presumably means Pérez is being paired with someone a bit taller, and since de Jong and Ferreyra are both coming back from injury, that’s got to be Rivière.

I think I’d go with a 4-3-2-1, with a Abeid the deepest of the midfield trio, flanked by Colback and Anita, and a interchangeable front three of Cabella, de Jong, and Pérez. Siem de Jong probably isn’t ready, but I like the idea.

Prediction

0-4. Carver is going to set records.

Where to Watch/Listen

The match is not televised live in the UK. Tickets are on sale from £20 for adults and £10 for children, and presumably will be available up until kick-off from the matchday box office. Local commentary, as always, is on BBC Newcastle, with talkSPORT covering the game overseas.

How do you think we’ll get on in this game? Have your say in our discussion thread.