Match preview by you can call me yo, click here to go the our match discussion thread

After a disappointing start to the season, we face potential further humiliation as we travel to Morecambe for a Capital One Cup second round match. In previous seasons, we have been beaten by lower league opposition too often as Brighton have knocked us out of the FA Cup twice, while we have also been beaten by a League Two side in the form of Stevenage. However we have won our last 12 second round ties in the League Cup, with our only loss at this stage coming against Middlesbrough in the 1990/91 season. The last time we played at this stage was during the 2011/12 season as we knocked out Scunthorpe in extra time thanks to a goal from Sammy Ameobi.

During our opening two Premier League matches we have failed to score while only hitting the target once, not that I’d count it as Tioté’s shot against City was going wide before Hart saved it. The team looks void of confidence, to be fair I’d probably be the same if I had Pardew as a boss. We really do need to a convincing win in the cup to inject some belief before the Fulham game. The team looks like it’s still recovering from such a bad campaign last time around so a few goals could really help us move on from the disaster of last season.

In last year’s Capital One Cup, we were knocked out by Manchester United at Old Trafford in a game that ended 2-1 after Papiss Cissé grabbed a consolation before nearly equalising with an overhead kick. Hopefully this season will finally see us follow sides like Wigan, Bradford and Swansea and have a major cup run.

A bit about Morecambe
The Lancashire club have been plying their trade in League Two since the 2007-8 season after being promoted in 2007. They are managed by Jim Bentley who has been in charge of the club since 2011. Their best finish to date was 4th during the 2009-10 but they lost their play-off semi final 7-2 on aggregate to Dagenham and Redbridge. Last season, they finished 16th in League Two. They are captained by Mark Hughes who is an Everton academy graduate who managed to play in the Premier League for Everton. They are 19th after picking up 4 points from 4 games. They won 2-0 at the weekend against Exeter. In the first round of the Capital One Cup, they knocked out Wolves.

Team News
We will still be without Yohan Cabaye (transferitis), Cheick Tioté (groin), Jonas Gutiérrez (hamstring), Massadio Haïdara (knee) and Loic Rémy (calf). With Fulham on Saturday, we may seek to play a few of our fringe players in a typical Pardew-in-the-cup style. I’d expect Paul Dummett to start at left back while Davide Santon could be tried in his more natural position on right back. I also hope we see Haris Vučkić and Gaël Bigirimana get their first starts of the season. I’d also be surprised if Rob Elliot doesn’t play. Shola is probably dead after 90 minutes against Fulham so Cissé should start. The big question about the team tomorrow is: will we find Romain Amalfitano? And maybe even give him a run out…

Referee
The referee is Mark Haywood who refereed us twice in the Championship year, with both matches ending in victory for us so hopefully we keep up that record against Morecambe to proceed to the next round.

The game is live on Sky Sports 1, and live radio commentary will be on BBC Radio 5live.

Match preview by you can call me yo, click here to go the our match discussion thread

Match preview by Tirer le Ryan Oison Une, click here to go the our match discussion thread

Newcastle sit bottom of the league after an uninspiring defeat to last years runners up Manchester City, whilst West Ham are in 4th after they secured a solid home win against newly promoted Cardiff.

Newcastle vs West Ham fixture history

Previous 10 fixtures at St James’ Park

11 November 2012 Home Lost 0-1
05 January 2011 Home Won 5-0
10 January 2009 Home Drew 2-2
23 September 2007 Home Won 3-1
20 January 2007 Home Drew 2-2
20 August 2005 Home Drew 0-0
19 August 2002 Home Won 4-0
27 April 2002 Home Won 3-1
16 April 2001 Home Won 2-1
03 January 2000 Home Drew 2-2

W5 L1 D4

All Premier League fixtures

04 May 2013 Away Drew 0-0
11 November 2012 Home Lost 0-1
05 January 2011 Home Won 5-0
23 October 2010 Away Won 1-2
10 January 2009 Home Drew 2-2
20 September 2008 Away Lost 3-1
26 April 2008 Away Drew 2-2
23 September 2007 Home Won 3-1
20 January 2007 Home Drew 2-2
17 September 2006 Away Won 0-2
17 December 2005 Away Won 2-4
20 August 2005 Home Drew 0-0
11 January 2003 Away Drew 2-2
19 August 2002 Home Won 4-0
27 April 2002 Home Won 3-1
23 September 2001 Away Lost 3-0
16 April 2001 Home Won 2-1
28 October 2000 Away Lost 1-0
12 April 2000 Away Lost 2-1
03 January 2000 Home Drew 2-2
20 March 1999 Away Lost 2-0
31 October 1998 Home Lost 0-3
07 February 1998 Home Lost 0-1
20 September 1997 Away Won 0-1
06 May 1997 Away Drew 0-0
16 November 1996 Home Drew 1-1
18 March 1996 Home Won 3-0
21 February 1996 Away Lost 2-0
08 March 1995 Home Won 2-0
31 August 1994 Away Won 1-3
19 March 1994 Away Won 2-4
25 September 1993 Home Won 2-0

W14 L9 D9

Likely NUFC team:

This fixture sees not only the return of two former Newcastle players in Carroll and Nolan, but also a visit of our current manager’s previous team for his 100th league game in charge at Newcastle. However Carroll is apparently injured and will not feature, so I guess that prevents him scoring against us. Alan Pardew spent 3 years with the Hammers, guiding them to promotion to the Premier League, and to a Europa League spot. Following a brief period of success he then managed to cock it up incredibly and sent them on a run that was their worst for 70 years and was promptly shown the door after a 4-0 loss. At Newcastle he appears to be repeating himself, after an initial successful first full season in charge where we flirted with CL for much of the season, Newcastle were then nearly relegated the season after. Fortunately for Pardew, he was given the confidence of the board, yet he must have been fearing for his job after another 4-0 loss last Monday.

Newcastle looked void of attacking threat and although started in a promising 4-3-3 formation, quickly reverted to 4-4-2 with Gutierrez back on the wing and Cissé isolated. Alan Pardew appeared to have told his players to play a passing game high up the pitch. Unfortunately that involved leaving one man back against the pace of Aguero, Silva and Navas, and City soon scored on their 3rd break of the match after 6 minutes. The manager will be quick to point, however, to the series of events which he had no control over which ultimately resulted in our heavy defeat. He was not helped by Arsenal’s untimely bid for central midfielder Yohan Cabaye, who was promptly sent home hours before the game. Cabaye would have surely been in the starting XI, disrupting any game plan and it remains to be seen whether or not he will feature this weekend. Another player who will definitely not feature will be Steven Taylor, who in the 3rd minute of added time at half time decided to try and hit Aguero round the head, leaving his side with 45 minutes to play 2-0 down with 10 men. Many Newcastle fans will be glad to see the back of him after this incident, as they will Jonas Gutiérrez who limped off after pulling up with a hamstring injury. Another doubt is Tioté who has apparently tweaked his groin and so may not feature.

But it’s not all doom and gloom as Mifune will insist. Newcastle have only lost once to West Ham at home in the last 10 fixtures, and despite selling our previous game winners in this fixture to the opposing team, it should be a more evenly contested match than both teams experienced last weekend.

Line up rumours:
Shola Ameobi starting (according to @NUFCfans)
Andy Carroll is still struggling with an ankle injury.
Razvan Rat and Stewart Downing may make their full debuts for the Hammers

Match preview by ScholarlySloth, click here to go the our match discussion thread

The venue, Etihad Stadium

Some unpleasant statistics:
Manchester City are unbeaten in their last 13 Premier League meetings with Newcastle, winning 11 – including the last seven. City have scored 30 goals during that run, conceding only eight.

Newcastle have never won a league game at the Etihad Stadium (D2, L7).

Man City v Newcastle – Premier League era:
2012/13 Lost 0-4
2011/12 Lost 1-3 Gosling
2010/11 Lost 1-2 Gutierrez
2008/09 Lost 1-2 Carroll
2007/08 Lost 1-3 Martins
2006/07 Drew 0-0
2005/06 Lost 0-3
2004/05 Drew 1-1 Shearer
2003/04 Lost 0-1
2002/03 Lost 0-1*
2000/01 Won 1-0 Shearer*
1995/96 Drew 3-3 Albert 2, Asprilla*
1994/95 Drew 0-0*
1993/94 Lost 1-2 Sellars*
1993/94 Drew 1-1 Jeffrey (LC)*
(*At Maine Road – all others at CoM/Etihad Stadium)

Likely NUFC team:

After what has been one of the most underwhelming summer transfer windows in recent years, in which we saw Perch, Simpson, Llambias and Harper leave, with only Remy on loan and Joe Kinnear coming in, Newcastle United look to put the previous season behind them by trying to best previous champions Manchester City in a battle royal fight to the death – Or football match, one of the two.

This pre-season has not been that great for us, starting brightly against motherwell with a 4-2 win, things went decidedly downhill from there. A following 3-1 loss to Rio Ave left many having flashbacks of the disaster that was the 2012/13 season, and these fears were compounded in a 1-1 draw against Paco de Ferreira in a game that could best be described as a brawl – in which Coloccini was sent off late on for attempted murder.
A sudden upturn in pre-season fortunes was found in a 1-0 win against Blackpool and a 2-0 win against the might St. Mirren. Unfortunately the end mired these massive wins, with 4 penalties conceded in the 3 final games, leading to a 1-1 draw against both Rangers and Braga then culminating in a behind closed doors 3-1 loss to Liverpool.

Looking at the stats, and the team likely to be fielded by Man City, we could perhaps then be forgiven for looking at this opening match with a tinge of glumness amongst the excitement of the season finally returning. Despite this I feel that instead of resignation, we should look at this game as a way to see how well we can do when there’s no real pressure.

There are a number of positives to take from the start of this season – the main being Hatem Ben Arfa being fit! Fans can complain that there are too many times he overruns the ball, causing an attack to breakdown, but for every failed attempt there are 5/6 brilliant displays of footballing magnificence; something we sorely lacked throughout last season and something that can make a match where we are expected to be battered that bit more exciting, perhaps giving us that little bit of hope that we’ll grab something from it.

How can we forget the magnificent form Shola has been in this pre-season? Clearly the reignited explosive striker he once was, the big man will be fighting Cissé for top scorer this season – Remy should have joined in January, before he had such fierce competition. We may not have made any signings that are available for tomorrow, but joking aside, there was no real time last season we could field a team as strong as the one likely to face Man City. An incredibly bad season for injuries, only made worse by the extra matches provided by getting to the Quarter Finals of the Europa League hindered our Premier League performance massively, something we should see less of against Man City now that we have a full team once more.

Having not really moved forward with the extra money provided by TV deals this year whilst other teams bring in top players, there’s a fear that we’ll once again be dragged into a relegation battle, one which we may not be as lucky to win for a second time. This being Newcastle United though, we’re just as likely to win the league – as I’ve been told many times before: It’s Never Boring Supporting NUFC.

Match preview by ScholarlySloth, click here to go the our match discussion thread

Although Arsenal were knocked out of the Champion’s League last night, they will have taken a great deal of heart and pride in their performance.

Now they are out of all cup competitions they only have the league, and 4th place in particular, to focus on and this could be bad news for us on Monday night. Often, when a team goes out of the Champs league, their league form can also suffer with the players feeling a bit flat, but due to the nature of their European exit and their excellent performances in their last couple of league games, I am quite concerned about facing them at the Emirates next week.

RVP against Williamson is the stuff that nightmares are made from, so it will be vital that we limit the supply to him from midfield. Having said that, I really feel that HBA should start on the right wing to give them something to worry about and to make the fullback think twice about bombing forward in support.

Our best opportunity, IMHO, is to get at their centre backs with the ball on the floor and HBA allows this to happen. He seems to occupy 2-3 of their players, thus creating more space and time for Cabaye and Tiote, and gives them more options when they have the ball. He also has the ability to provide insightful defence splitting passes for Ba and Cisse (when he actually decides to pass the bloody ball). The downside to playing HBA on Monday is that it is vital that we keep the ball as much as possible, but it is only natural that in trying to be creative he is going to give away possession. Despite this, I would definitely put him in the starting eleven.

Once again we will need to rely on the incredible work ethic that Pardew has instilled in this team and maybe a flash of individual brilliance to come away with a result.

How do you guys think we should best deal with the threat of RVP and how do you see us being able to exploit their weaknesses?

Written by Simonbh7