How does our run in compare with the rest?

Pardew prepares for the run in
It’s getting towards the business end of the season. It’s a time where pretty much every fan starts to look at the fixture list and work out various permutations which could help their club achieve whatever goal it is that is within reach.

Just last season I was doing much the same as we searched for official Premier League security, but this season I’m looking at things for an altogether different reason. That reason is European qualification. Granted the odds are stacked against us this evening and we may well lose at the home of Arsenal, but what happens after that?

As Archie Mag pointed out in the last article, Sunderland actually done us a favour at the weekend by ensuring that 7th placed Liverpool will stay at arms length whatever the result this evening. It’s an added bonus ahead of a game which I expect us to get little change from. Unfortunately.

However the grander scale is the final ten or so games of the season and what they hold for those in and around us. For that I’ve had to look at who we can realistically catch and who can realistically catch us, which to me means anywhere from Arsenal in 4th to Everton in 9th. First things first though lets take a look at our run in.

Newcastle

Mon 12 Mar – Arsenal v Newcastle
Sun 18 Mar – Newcastle v Norwich
Sun 25 Mar – West Brom v Newcastle
Sun 1 Apr – Newcastle v Liverpool
Fri 6 Apr – Swansea v Newcastle
Mon 9 Apr – Newcastle v Bolton
Sat 14 Apr – Chelsea v Newcastle
Sat 21 Apr – Newcastle v Stoke
Sat 28 Apr – Wigan v Newcastle
Sun 6 May – Newcastle v Man City
Sun 13 May – Everton v Newcastle

A tough run in when all things are considered. Away from home we don’t have an “easy” game on paper. Wigan are probably the weakest of the bunch, but they will be scrapping for their lives so won’t be a pushover. At home there are a few games I expect us to take points from though, with the game against Norwich, Bolton and Stoke screaming out at me.

Arsenal

Mon 12 Mar – Arsenal v Newcastle
Wed 21 Mar – Everton v Arsenal
Sat 24 Mar – Arsenal v Aston Villa
Sat 31 Mar – QPR v Arsenal
Sun 8 Apr – Arsenal v Man City
Wed 11 Apr – Wolves v Arsenal
Mon 16 Apr – Arsenal v Wigan
Sat 21 Apr – Arsenal v Chelsea
Sat 28 Apr – Stoke v Arsenal
Sat 5 May – Arsenal v Norwich
Sun 13 May – West Brom v Arsenal

Arsenal also have some tough games to play. Like us they have to play City and Chelsea still and trips to Everton and Stoke won’t be easy. A win for them tonight and I think we can discount catching up the Gunners in truth.

Chelsea

Wed 21 Mar – Man City v Chelsea
Sat 24 Mar – Chelsea v Tottenham
Sat 31 Mar – Aston Villa v Chelsea
Sat 7 Apr – Chelsea v Wigan
Mon 9 Apr – Fulham v Chelsea
Sat 14 Apr – Chelsea v Newcastle
Sat 21 Apr – Arsenal v Chelsea
Sun 29 Apr – Chelsea v QPR
Sun 6 May – Liverpool v Chelsea
Sun 13 May – Chelsea v Blackburn

That is a pretty tough run in to be fair. They have to play five of the current top seven in the league which will always be tough. Once again, like Arsenal, I feel that if they grab a win in their next game we can realistically rule out catching them.

Liverpool

Tue 13 Mar – Liverpool v Everton
Wed 21 Mar – QPR v Liverpool
Sat 24 Mar – Liverpool v Wigan
Sun 1 Apr – Newcastle v Liverpool
Sat 7 Apr – Liverpool v Aston Villa
Tue 10 Apr – Blackburn v Liverpool
Sat 14 Apr – Liverpool v Fulham
Sun 22 Apr – Liverpool v West Brom
Sat 28 Apr – Norwich v Liverpool
Sun 6 May – Liverpool v Chelsea
Sun 13 May – Swansea v Liverpool

Realistically they look favourites for the majority of their home games barring Chelsea. I’d prefer Liverpool’s run in ahead of ours in truth, but I feel the meeting between the two club at St James’ Park could have a huge bearing on who finishes higher. Indeed depending on the finalists in the FA Cup it might be of benefit to 7th ahead of 6th anyway, which is pretty mad.

Sunderland

Tue 20 Mar – Blackburn v Sunderland
Sat 24 Mar – Sunderland v QPR
Sat 31 Mar – Man City v Sunderland
Sat 7 Apr – Sunderland v Tottenham
Mon 9 Apr – Everton v Sunderland
Sat 14 Apr – Sunderland v Wolves
Sat 21 Apr – Aston Villa v Sunderland
Sat 18 Apr – Sunderland v Bolton
Sun 6 May – Fulham v Sunderland
Sun 13 May – Sunderland v Man Utd

Not the easiest of fixture lists for our Mackem friends either. Manchester City away is tough, as are Tottenham and Everton while Manchester United are just Manchester United.

Everton

Tue 13 Apr – Liverpool v Everton
Wed 21 Mar – Everton v Arsenal
Sat 24 Mar – Swansea v Everton
Sat 31 Mar – Everton v West Brom
Sat 7 Apr – Norwich v Everton
Mon 9 Apr – Everton v Sunderland
Sat 14 Apr – Stoke v Everton
Sun 22 Apr – Man Utd v Everton
Sat 28 Apr – Everton v Fulham
Sun 6 May – Wolves v Everton
Sun 13 May – Everton v Newcastle

Their next three games are really tough and I feel that if they are to remain in with a shout of chasing us they will need to get wins from at least one of them. The are in god form however and are doing an Everton by finishing the season strongly.

Of course things can change and form can improve or get worse over the last few games of the season. However this is just a guide to show you that everyone has tough games left and, although it is a cliche, there are no easy games and any team can beat another on any given day. This is just a guide.

What do you make if it though?

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

65 thoughts on “How does our run in compare with the rest?

  1. you left out man city’s, spurs’ and man u’s fixtures.

    i’m still hoping to win the league.

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  2. If at the start of the season you had said that we were even in a mini league with that lot, let alone being in with a shout of winning it. Well, I’d have snatched your hand off. I think we will get europe as we have no preesure on us.

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  3. Chelsea have some hard games coming up but they have 5 points on us, I still don’t think we will catch them. Liverpool have a good run in. Sadly I think it will be this

    3. Tottinghem hotspur
    4. Arsenal
    5. Chelsea
    6. Liverpool
    7. NUFC
    8. Mackems
    9. Everton

    and Man C will bottle it. 😥

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  4. 33 points left on the board and only 23 points behind the leaders.

    We’re a shoe-in I tell ya… A SHOE-IN!!!!

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  5. Who does everyone want to win the league? Man U or Man C?

    Weirdly I want Man U to win it. I think it makes a point that you can’t buy everything.

    rich twats. 😆

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  6. i agree and see us as 7th or 8th at the end of the season. 11 points from last games total.

    Mon 12 Mar – Arsenal v Newcastle – loose
    Sun 18 Mar – Newcastle v Norwich – win
    Sun 25 Mar – West Brom v Newcastle – draw
    Sun 1 Apr – Newcastle v Liverpool – draw
    Fri 6 Apr – Swansea v Newcastle – loose
    Mon 9 Apr – Newcastle v Bolton – win
    Sat 14 Apr – Chelsea v Newcastle – draw
    Sat 21 Apr – Newcastle v Stoke – draw
    Sat 28 Apr – Wigan v Newcastle – draw
    Sun 6 May – Newcastle v Man City – loose
    Sun 13 May – Everton v Newcastle – loose

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  7. I was talking to my friend yesterday asking him this very question.

    which is worst,losing a 12point lead once at top of the table or losing the title right near the end of season,being at the top for very long

    He answered,Man city. 😆 At least newcastle 12point lead can be taken over very quickly.

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  8. Anyway,i still believe we can get 4th spot if we full blast ourself ahead. Take note of this two fixtures of newcastle and see arsenal,chelsea.

    Newcastle
    Sat 14 Apr – Chelsea v Newcastle
    Sat 21 Apr – Newcastle v Stoke

    Arsenal

    Mon 16 Apr – Arsenal v Wigan
    Sat 21 Apr – Arsenal v Chelsea

    Chelsea
    Sat 14 Apr – Chelsea v Newcastle
    Sat 21 Apr – Arsenal v Chelsea

    If everything goes well,we might clinched 4th spot,or 5th spot. 😉

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  9. This is what i reckon. Tonight loss 🙁
    v.norwich win =3
    v.W.brom draw=1
    v.Dippers win (yes really) =3
    v.swans draw=1
    v.Bolton win=3
    v.Chelsea loss
    v.Stoke win=3
    v.Wigan win=3
    v.Citeh loss
    v.everton draw=1
    That’s 18 and a total of 62 though Swans could beat us as could the toffeemen which would be 60. I would be dead chuffed with a total like that as every season start i look at the last 5 teams to play in case we need points to avoid relegation so this is luxury forecasting.

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  10. Sat 14 Apr – Chelsea v Newcastle
    Sat 21 Apr – Newcastle v Stoke
    Sat 28 Apr – Wigan v Newcastle
    Sun 6 May – Newcastle v Man City
    Sun 13 May – Everton v Newcastle

    I wouldn’t have fancied those last 5 had we been fighting relegation! Dead and buried.

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  11. In fact,there’s no need to even look at fixture list of liverpool. 😆

    Cause we are on advantage to them. Firstly,we ain’t seeking UCL spot at all,we would be happy in europa.Secondly,whether we finish above liverpool or below them,we still have chance to get into europa,if the final of FA CUP includes any of this three clubs.Chelsea,spurs,liverpool.

    Liverpool on the other hand are getting alittle crappy as well. 😈

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  12. I hope Wigan die this time, it’s not even funny this is just getting rediculous how they cling on to a life boat at the last second. 😈

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  13. Who are the 3 teams people want to see relegated? 😛

    I’m quite happy with the current three.

    1. QPR
    2. Wolves
    3. Wigan

    Would have loved Villa to go down. 🙂

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  14. Maybe QPR will trade places with Bolton, it would be quite a suprise to see them go down, especially after last season. If we have been the suprise package at one end, they have been at the other.

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  15. DJG@15-Exactly .As i said luxury forecasting and the players need to chill and just enjoy the remaining games ,there is no real pressure ,that’s all on Chelsea ,spurs ,arsenal and the Dippers to preserve their so called top 6 standings. No one expected us to be in contention at this point so that means we have over performed and the so called best of the rest underperformed . 😉

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  16. In all honesty, assuming any CL dreams are soon crushed, our number one goal should be to finish 6th above Lpool. It would likely get us in Europe and it it would be nice to stick it to their supporters for all they **** they talked re: Carroll and Enrique

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  17. @MDS: If we finish 6th,we must pray super hard that the fa cup final,consist of chelsea,spurs,liverpool.

    And that whoever at 5th spot must be in fa cup final and win the fa cup.Or else we can’t go europe and liverpool will. ❗

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  18. Hope Man Utd win the title, I hate everything City and Chelsea stand for. Man Utd have spent money but at least it was their own which was built up over years and years of sustained success.

    And I think I’m right in saying that isn’t their debt all down to the Glazers? Transferring existing debt into the club?

    We royally fluffed any chance of us grabbing 4th when we ****** up against Wolves and failed to capitalise on our 1 sided 2nd half dominance against the filth.

    We had to win the winnable games so as to not have to worry about games like tonight and let the lot above us play each other and hope the results went our way. We will now have to win tonight and against Chelsea plus win all the supposedly winnable games…not going to happen.

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  19. DJG@19 Yeh Villa down would of been nice ,but i think they are safe now 👿 Still i will settle for QPR for obvious reasons.

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  20. Think we will get 16 points from those games leaving us on 60 points.

    Think Arsenal will get 22 leaving them with 71

    Chelsea will get 17 points leaving them with 66

    And bin dippers will get 18 points leaving them with 57.

    That would leave us a respectable 6th

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  21. For all those results this season,i will be gutted if we missed out europe competition for next season. 😥 😥

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  22. But we never get the points we think we will…. we mess up in games we should win, and pull one out of the hat sometimes against the big teams….

    Kimtoon @ 21, I know what you’re saying….. but not sure I want to see them ‘chill and just enjoy the remaining games’… actually, I want to see them give everything they have as if their life depended on it, in ALL the remaining games!!!

    If they look like they’re ‘chilling’ and lose, I don’t think most of us will be too impressed..

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  23. i fancy

    sunderland
    liverpool
    chelsea

    to get relegated.. but i dont think they will.

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  24. Susan@28 😆 Point taken maybe a better phrase would of been to play without fear 😉 .I don’t think they should feel pressure they are where they are mostly on merit and there is NO reason they can’t play as well as season start .Saylor aside if the md/f players and front guys play well then the defence should be o.k.

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  25. Mon 12 Mar – Arsenal v Newcastle – win
    Sun 18 Mar – Newcastle v Norwich – draw
    Sun 25 Mar – West Brom v Newcastle – lose
    Sun 1 Apr – Newcastle v Liverpool – draw
    Fri 6 Apr – Swansea v Newcastle – lose
    Mon 9 Apr – Newcastle v Bolton – win
    Sat 14 Apr – Chelsea v Newcastle – lose
    Sat 21 Apr – Newcastle v Stoke – win
    Sat 28 Apr – Wigan v Newcastle – draw
    Sun 6 May – Newcastle v Man City – lose
    Sun 13 May – Everton v Newcastle – lose

    i think our points at the end of the season will be 55-60 points!! ive been quite harsh on my predictions as i am not as confident after we cant beat wolves at home!! i think if we can get 5 wins out of the last 11 we could possibly get 6th place but i cant see it!! lets roll them sleeves up and play the last 11 games like a cup final and get the mags back into europe cos us fans deserve it!!!

    my team v arsenal tonight would defo have guthrie in , this is what i would go for

    ——————————krul—————————
    simpson———-colo——–wilo—————santon
    ———————-tiote——–guthrie——————
    ———–benny———cabaye———–jonas———
    ——————————-ba——————————

    i would play one upfront to start off as we got murdered at spurs with 2 upfront!! guthers and tiote infront of the defence will be a big help and i think benny should defo start after his display against the scum!!
    all in all if we get beat tonight with every player putting in 100% then i wil be more than happy!! arsenal arent the strongest in defence and i fanct ba getting a few chances if he gets the service!! my prediction 3-2 TOON 😀

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  26. We get our act together and I see as many as 19 points for the taking there like. Could we be good enough to achieve the following:

    Loss
    Win
    Win
    Loss
    Win
    Win
    Loss
    Win
    Win
    Loss
    Draw

    Obviously the above is best case scenario, with no injuries between now and the end of the season. But if we are serious about being contenders for Europe spot and wanting to attract quality players in the summer, I’d hope Pardews expectations wouldn’t fall too short of that.

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  27. just a thought but as arsenal have no real ariel threat,do we need williamson ?play extra midfielder,and tiote deeper, i would feel more confident with cabaye and guthrie playing in centre mid in front of tiote,

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  28. We’ve been battered away from home recently. It’ll be interesting to see if AP plays our Fulham or Spurs formation?

    I would play 4-5-1 and play obertan and Benny, for Rtaylor and cisse

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  29. Feel a bit of a hiding tonight. Juat cannot see Williamson or Simpson handling their front guys. Although if Arsenal have an off day it could be different.

    Arsenal do have a dodgy defense and if we can get in thye areas where we could exploit that it could give us hope.

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  30. I feel our better away performances this season include Obertan.

    I would let Benny roam in the middle, I feel he is ready for a more central role. That way they need someone marking him and hopefully create space.

    But….

    I would play Cisse and ba and Benny r-mid and just go for it. Get a goal and try to hang on……

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  31. Tottenham played 2 up and got a couple of early goals.

    We can hang on better than them though.

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  32. Susan@36-No worries, words get lost in their meaning sometimes ,quite often in my case ,my hand doesn’t always type what me brain is trying to say 😆 Should of went to school a bit more 😳

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  33. Tonights game is the one i dread the most , Arsenal have found form all of a sudden all the other teams we play we can beat .We have proved it by taking 4 points off man utd this season . I think we will pick up enough points to finish 6th this team has something about them and fight when it counts .

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  34. Playing two strikers would be suicide IMO.
    It has to be 4-5-1 which I think pards will go

    ——————Krul—————–
    Simmo, Willo, Colo, Santon
    —————Tiote—————-
    ——–Cabaye, Guthrie——–
    ———–HBA, Jonas————
    —————-Ba——————–

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  35. Not quite sure why guys are favouring playing Guthrie. Is it for his defensive quality or attacking quality or because he plays midfield and we have nobody else with injuries and suspensions.

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  36. Toby his possession skills – we can dominate the midfield with him cabaye and tiote in there.
    Also he works tirelessly and they can all stop balls to RVP

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  37. Wonder if Pardew is considering Vuckic he has been recalled from his loan spell at Cardiff today . Tiote and Cabaye to hold the midfield Vuckic infront of them with jonas and HBA out wide and Ba up front on his own .

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  38. Must be 4 – 5 – 1 formation tonight,we cannot relinquish possession cheaply or Arsenal will murder us.

    Going to record the match and watch it after 10pm and hide behind the sofa 😆

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  39. @Axel, I’d quite like that.

    Vuckic is big enough to cause the Arsenal defence problems, and I think his positioning is excellent for an attacking midfielder.

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  40. I am still waiting to see Vuckic shine, he was poor along with the other’s at Cesspool.

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  41. Liam
    Guthrie might work hard but I’ve never seen him make a tackle in his life and he probably can’t. If Gosling hadn’t of stupidly got sent off last week would have preferred him to start. I think it will be Guthrie but only because we have nobody else

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  42. PS
    Guthrie was atrocious in the twenty minutes versus Wolves. He Cabbaye and Tiote just got in each others way. Guthrie gave the ball away more in that short spell than a midfielder should do in a season

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  43. BLIP those were my first thoughts too after reading he was recalled ,his size alone is enough to frighten some of their players . With him and HBA we would have some flair on the pitch , the lad can play a bit and now has games under his belt at cardiff .

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  44. LST – that’s a very narrow looking formation for me like and exposes our full backs to the on running Walcott and AOC.
    I’m not a fan of the 4-5-1 formation with our current squad of player tbh, when we played that formation against Liverpool earlier this season it just left Ba up there with nowt being fed into him.
    I think Arsenals weakness is their defence and if we don’t put pressure on it we are just going to allow them to come at us and they will heavily punish us.
    Stick with 4-4-2 for me with Benny on the left and Oba on the right and let’s run at their full backs. Have Tiote and Cabaye sit deep and protect the CBs through the middle and when the ball goes wide they double up with their full backs.
    Benny and Oba can get balls in to Ba and Cisse and I really think those 4 as an attacking quartet could get goals… It’s just whether they can get more than Arsenal.

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  45. Toonsy good read mate, but I never really worry about other teams if we do the job then it doesn’t matter what anyone else does, we have our destiny in our own hands, and if they’re Kruls hands they’re pretty safe, only problem for us is that Willo is directly infront of him.
    I have said it several times now we need to try to play tonight imo thats our only chance, if we try to set back and defend we will get a relentless battering

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  46. Nice summary lad.

    I can just never second guess us and don’t even bother nowadays. It’s just a complete unknown to me and I haven’t a clue what’s likely to happen! We’ll probs beat the top 4 and get tanked by norwich and wigan knowing us though!

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  47. Lee Ryder ‏ @lee_ryder Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
    Ben Arfa starting tonight #nufc Obertan on the right

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  48. Newcastle United FC ‏ @NUFCOfficial Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
    #NUFC v #AFC (4-4-1-1): Krul; Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini (c), Santon; Obertan, Cabaye, Tiote, Gutierrez; Ben Arfa; Ba. #epl #newcastle

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  49. Newcastle United FC ‏ @NUFCOfficial Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
    #NUFC substitutes v #AFC: Elliot, Perch, Guthrie, Gosling, Vuckic, Shola Ameobi, Cisse. #newcastle #epl

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  50. Newcastle United (4-4-1-1): Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Davide Santon; Gabriel Obertan, Cheick Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez; Hatem Ben Arfa; Demba Ba

    Substitutes: Rob Elliot, James Perch, Dan Gosling, Danny Guthrie, Haris Vuckic, Shola Ameobi, Papiss Cisse

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  51. Nice starting XI, I like it. hope it will works better than against Tottenham
    Comon Lads, we need a victory tonight

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  52. Well nee one went with that one I dont think but GAME ON!!!
    Hopefully Benny will look to pass the ball about, play Ba in. Really fancy Oba against Gibbs but we have to get people in the box coz it’s nee good crosses coming in if Ba is gonna have 2 CBs marking him.

    Howay the lads!!!!!!!!

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