Newcastle v Metalist Kharkiv – Europa League match preview

Magpies v Mentalists
Magpies v Mentalists
Europa League football is back on the agenda as St James’ Park prepares to welcome Ukranian outfit Metalist Kharkiv.

The fact that we’re playing the first leg of this Round of 32 encounter at home is because we finished our group campaign as runners up to Bordeaux, who also face Ukraninan oppositions, meaning that as a penalty we must play the second leg away from home.

Which means that ideally we need to put ourselves in a position to progress through the result at St James’ Park which will require Alan Pardew to name a strong side. We discussed yesterday the merits and pitfalls of naming a strong side whilst out Premier League safety is still up in the air, but it seems that Alan Pardew doesn’t feel the same way I do and will name a strong side for the match tomorrow. For those that missed it, this is what he had to say:

“I will be picking a strong side for Thursday, the new lads who arrived last month give us greater depth. It is a competition we would all love to win, it is difficult to get through the group stage so we don’t want that hard work to all be for nothing!”

I guess we’ll just have to see how staring we go, but with our next league game still 11 days away I suspect we’ll try and get the job done on home soil.

Newcastle:

Alan Pardew will be without Ryan Taylor, Haris Vuckic and Dan Gosling. Danny Simpson’s fitness (assuming he’s not getting new tattoos or getting sparked out on the town) is unknown. Sammy Ameobi is out after picking up an injury in training while Hatem Ben Arfa should have featured but has had his return put back due to a virus. Yoan Guffran is also out through injury although he couldn’t have featured anyway due to being cup-tied in this competition. Another player effectively cup-tied is Mathieu Debuchy who couldn’t be named in the squad due to being us only being able to name one player who has played in the Champions League in the current season. That spot went to Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa.

Other than that Pardew has few selection concerns and has arguably his strongest squad available to him currently. This was highlighted in the linked article earlier on where names such as Cheik Tiote, Vurnon Anita, Sylvain Marveaux and new guys like Massadio Haidara and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa could play after limited involvement in recent weeks. Also Adam Campbell has been kept back from being involved in a tournament that a lot of the younger players are involved in currently suggesting he could be involved in some form.

Previously…

United have no previous history with Metalist Kharkiv, but against Ukrainian opposition we are unbeaten at St James’ Park having taken on Dynamo Kiev three (two Champions League ties and one friendly) times on home soil previously, beating them on all three occasions.

Without a competitive match since December 6th, Kharkiv have been playing friendly matches to keep in shape for this game. They got to this stage by topping their group beating Bayer Leverkusen, Rapid Vienna and Rosenberg at home before beating the Norwegians away and drawing with the Germans in Leverkusen. They lost their return match in Austria.

Stats and facts:

Mike Williamson could make his 100th appearance for the Magpies. Massadio Haidara and Mapou Yanga Mbiwa could make their first.

Toonsy will celebrate his 4th wedding anniversary by watching the game!

United are unbeaten in 11 European fixtures at St James’ Park. If you don’t include the Intertoto Cup, that run extends to 22 games over 10 years since losing to Partizan Belgrade.

Final thought:

I’m still struggling to get myself up for this competition. It would have been different if there was no question of relegation, but having done the tour of the Championship (and enjoyed it, especially Peterborough with my feet and ankles being covered in urine!) I can’t say I’d like to go back there.

Having said that, we do have more options these days and have a gap to our next league game so why not go for it? The confidence gained by grabbing a win would be worth it, not forgetting the fact that a lot of these players haven’t played together before so the increased understanding would leave us arguably in better shape.

Whatever your feelings on the competition, this is a game that needs playing so why not go out and try to win it?

Howay the lads!

Date: Thursday, 14th February, 2013

Time: 20:05 – Live on ESPN

Venue: St James’ Park

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.

107 thoughts on “Newcastle v Metalist Kharkiv – Europa League match preview

  1. we have the squad now to deal with both league and cup, really dont see the harm in playing a first choice XI 1st leg and with the right result hopefully key players can be rested 2nd leg with southampton in mind, HWTL

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  2. I have a feeling the closer we get to the final the more excited we will get. Metalist are currently on like a 2 month winter break and really shouldn’t be giving us any problems.

    I can remember the year Rangers got to the final

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  3. Agree Toonsy. We need to get this tie as good as sown up at home while we have a bit of a break in our league fixtures, then it shouldnt matter too much who we send over there to finish it off.
    I’ve lost the plot with this competition, how many more rounds are there to go??

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  4. To be honest I think we’ll still see Krul/Mbiwa/Saylor/Tiote/Anita/Marv/Cisse starting out there tonight at the very least.
    I definitely think Cabaye & Colo should be rested – firstly because they are arguably our two key men, secondly because we have more than capable players that can fill in.
    In all probability we’ll probably see close to our first XI out there – as many have said, we don’t have a league game next weekend, best to try and get it “wrapped up” at home.
    I predict 4-0.

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  5. I’d go for our strongest team. We really need to get a first 11 up to speed and fully gelled for the run in. Really, 3 games in fourteen days shouldn’t be beyond anyone. I agree though it’s hard to get excited for this competition. I’m not sure why as the rest of europe take it really seriously.

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  6. Am I the only one whose attitude has gone from “we’ll probably lose” every week to “there’s a good chance we can win”…

    I think we should be too much for these boys at St James. Even with a slightly weakened side I think we’ll win by two goals.

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  7. Cisse needs to start. He won’t have as much pressure on him in this competition and if he scores it’ll only further boost his confidence.

    He’s been playing well lately but still needs to find the net more often.

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  8. Steven Taylor won’t start IMO. Wasn’t Pardew saying a few days ago he’ll be managing the fitness of him as he gets injured too much basically?

    It’ll be Yanga-Mbiwa with either Coloccini or Williamson next to him I reckon.

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  9. Personally I think Perch is a better centre back than Williamson. I know people don’t rate him there but for me, like in midfield. He isn’t special but doesn’t do too much wrong.

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  10. Since we don’t have a match at the weekend, I think we should approach this the same as we would any PL game. Put out the strongest 11 possible, get the job done, and give some of the fringe players a chance in Kharkiv.

    I would put Mbiwa in there, as I think he will be in our strongest 11 once he’s settled in.

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  11. JJ – I’m still concerned over Cisse. I really like the guy and his all round game has been much better lately. Earlier in the season he was out of position, competing with Ba or not getting any service. However, and here’s the concern, he’s now starting to miss absolutely golden chances. Chances that most players would put away.
    Pardew is trying to play him through the problem but it can’t go on forever.

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  12. “To be honest I think we’ll still see Krul/Mbiwa/Saylor/Tiote/Anita/Marv/Cisse starting out there tonight at the very least.”

    Solano, I doubt very much we’ll see any of them out there tonight, considering the game is on Thursday 😉

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  13. Georgio,
    I’ve seen top quality players go through spells like this… and for much longer periods.

    Rooney, van Persie, David Villa, Drogba… I can’t think of many who haven’t to be honest.

    He’s scored 7 goals in 28 games this season. Most of those games he’s played out wide on the right wing. If he scores just four more goals this season, he still matches Shola Ameobi’s best ever season for us goal wise.

    So I’m not actually concerned about him. He is a quality player. Who at his worst, is far more valuable than any other striker currently on our books.

    Every striker has their ups and downs in terms of goals. Cisse still has a record of 29 goals in 58 games for us in all competitions. I’ll back him to start right though the season.

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  14. Looks to me like some people are underestimating Metalist. I suppose they only play in Ukraine – can’t be that good 🙄

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  15. JJ, we got our arses torn open by Norwich away last season (from memory) when Perch was CB. Too short to compete in the air, Willo is far superior in that position. Agree about Cisse tho.

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  16. well they beat bayer/l so there must be something about them,they just havent played for a couple of months,they are no mugs imo

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  17. Vegas, Metalist have an unstopable Ukrainian fullback from Chernobyl in their team, he is proficient with all 3 of his feet. 🙂 🙂

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  18. Ha JJ keep forgetting we’re in the Thursday outcast league.
    Yeah we coasted through the group stages on the most part with a much weaker squad and low morale. We should get past these no problem (classic ignorant Brit unaware of other European leagues speaking here 😉 )
    If Saylor I’m not sure who we’ll pick. Really wish I knew what the deal with Colo will be in the summer. Our approach to the transfer window hinges on it.

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  19. Without having a game Sat we should put out a very strong team. I would hope Anita gets a run out. I would start Colo and Yanga-Mbiwa and the back. I would rest Jonas and start obertan and Marv out wide and play Cisse through the middle. I feel if he gets one or two he will go on a run and we need him scoring goals.

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  20. Perch can tackle well but he’s too short and too weak to compete as a real CB should. Whatever people say about willo, when he’s competing in the air he rarely loses. Already shown to have the mighty Andy Carroll in his back pocket a few times 😉 It’s when the ball is at his feet we’re in trouble…

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  21. But again, I know nothing about Metalist or how they play. Do they have a big east european forward who will batter us in the air or what? 😕

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  22. Aussie @ 19 – You kid, but I remember when I was at school there was an exchange program (which only worked one way lol) where kids from around the Chernobyl area came over to spend some time here in the UK.

    I wasn’t bad at football but these kids were beasts. Perhaps not as technical as other nationalities, but by **** they could run through walls. Absolute physical beasts. More like fully grown men rather than teenage boys 😯

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  23. Newkie – They have mainly Argie and Brazilian players. Far from the stereotypical Ukrainian side. They won’t be an easy team to beat.

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  24. Newkie do ya home work mate!! Will somebody please tell him if they have a big forward or not, I don’t have the time..

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  25. Toonsy-Cheers, fair enough, mind the only Ukranian side I do know is Shakhtar and they seem to have a fair few brazillians as well, plus the Russians do, seems like the way football over there is going…Nah nothing is easy, and I don’t buy the “they will be tired from their winter break” malarky. Don’t people here always whine that december/Jan always takes it out of the players and that’s why England can’t compete internationally (Best excuse around.)

    Aussie, ****** off!

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  26. I watched quite a bit of the Europa football last season in anticipation of our qualification this season and as expect, the German and Spanish teams looked really strong – particularly the Spanish.
    I think we can progress through this round but in terms of how far we can go, we are going to have to play some unbelievable football to get anyway near finals IMO.

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  27. Newkie says:
    February 13, 2013 at 12:13

    Is Campbell in our Euro squad? Or does he not need to be named because of his age?
    —————————-

    Yes, he is in the squad mate. I’m not familiar with the Europa league rules but it looks like all players need to be named, regardless of age – there are a lot of under 21s in this list (which I got from the official site http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20130207/trio-added-to-europa-league-squad_2281670_3067197 )

    Newcastle United Europa League Squad

    Jak Alnwick, Romain Amalfitano, Shola Ameobi, Sammy Ameobi, Vurnon Anita, Hatem Ben Arfa, Gael Bigirimana, Yohan Cabaye, Adam Campbell, Papiss Cisse, Fabricio Coloccini, Rob Elliot, Shane Ferguson, Dan Gosling, Jonas Gutierrez, Massadio Haïdara, Steve Harper, Tim Krul, Steven Logan, Sylvain Marveaux, Brandon Miele, Yven Moyo, Gabriel Obertan, James Perch, Nile Ranger, Davide Santon, Moussa Sissoko, Danny Simpson, Remie Streete, James Tavernier, Steven Taylor, Cheick Tiote, Haris Vuckic, Mike Williamson, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

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  28. Chris-Cheers mate, I would guess then that U21s don’t need to be named as we have 35 in the squad? Surely Europa sides can’t be that big unconditionally? And therefore we entered all the young ones in automatically? Could be wrong though.

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  29. I don’t know if it is because of our poor league position or not but I am struggling to really get excited about this game…

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  30. AMF aye mate know what you mean,feel the same,might just have a couple of j/b,it hasnt got richie to stir,hes out of subway anyway hes resting in KC now 😆 😆

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  31. Ice, it’s nice to see that Richie is feeling finger licking good now 🙂 🙂 I’d like us to clock up a couple more league wins before I will get too concerned by this cup mate..

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  32. Aussie 😀

    Also, not sure how long this has been known or if anyone mentioned it earlier, but has anyone seen Barton is writing for the big issue?

    I mean, they’re hard enough to sell as it is 😆

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  33. Newkie regarding your elderly comment, I could be in my 80’s and I would be young compared to Big Dave. 🙂 🙂

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  34. i might have to report this to big dave mind you two,might have till until he gets his hearing-aid like 😉

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  35. Ice. It doesn’t matter mate, Big Dave will have forgotten all about this by tomorrow 🙂 🙂

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  36. Ice 😆

    Sharpy-Moyo is some French kid we signed two years ago or so, guess he’s about 20 by now, apparently has some talent but was a bit of a c*nt

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  37. for he europa u21’s have to be reistered if with the club less than two years, like haidara

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  38. SOLANOSTRUMPET
    <<<<<<<<<<< the only thing this dude wants to hear about mr liablity collo is how soon he packing his bags

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  39. Newkie 😳 predictive text, aye Moyo. We’ve had him 2yrs?!, I thought he was a freeby who snook under the radar in summer or Jan.
    I take it he’s another midfielder?. I think players like these need a good looking at in the summer and shifting if he’s not planning to introduce them to the first team squad.
    I’m amazed we’ve got shot of JJ Hooper when I was hearing good things of his development, then we’ve got kids like this registered to play in Europe who I’ve never even heard of! 😕

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  40. signed yven moyo around same time as abied i think, had a few long term injuries, think he missed nearly full season with one

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  41. Good read Toonsy, really looking forward to this game,can’t wait.
    I just hope Pards keeps his word and play’s a real strong team.

    Ice cheers again for watching my back with the back stabbers about 😉 and where is that Richie one surely he should have slept his meal off by now

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  42. Sharpy-Aye, came in under Hoots’ summer I think? So with Benny etc, think he was a french u18 or u21 or something but yeah, been here a while and just sat in the reserves, not sure he’s even done a basic1 month loan let alone some serious championship loan time?

    Agree, our youth dev is really poor and needs serious looking at-we need to loan these players out yet we’ve probably been **** scared to, in part maybe due to injuries but otherwise we just seem lazy-shouldn’t llambias be sorting this out?

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  43. Alan – Abied is another one for me, I know these boys wouldn’t have cost much, but if they aren’t progressing then why keep them?!

    Newkie – it’s ridiculous how many players we have for that position and yet we still seem to have a lack of strength in depth there. Having the likes of Moyo, Abied, Gosling, Vuckic, Obertan, Amalfitano, Marv, Sammi, Fergie and Innman and none have really made any impact or challenge the players ahead of them. Personally I’d say let them go and invest in the summer. Maybe not all of them but easily 5-6 of them. Then buy in Matt Phillips from Bpool, Nathan Redmond from Bham or Jason Puncheon from Saints on a free and even slash some cash on Lallana to provide some decent back up and competition to Gouffran, Sissoko and Benny. Because at the moment I think we are really weak behind those 3 at the moment.

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  44. <<<<<<<<<< has no worrys about cisse form dont rember him having a string of golden chances,hes still geting in the right places to have go, just needs a little luck and hes off and banging in the goals again for fun 😀

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  45. TOON he will come good mate nee worrys,you dont just become a bad player over night,though some will quote torros 😀 😀

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  46. Toon/ice – I reckon when Cisse has Benny, Sissoko and Gouffran and Cabaye all behind him not only will Cisse be in the goals but I think Ba’s missing goals will be made up by those boys too.

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  47. Sharpy-Aye. I think the problem seems to be that in the time immediately following their signing fans are desperate to see them turn out for the side, to see what they can do in a match with their own eyes. OK Moyo didn’t have that much fanfare, but Abeid is one, and Amalfitano, who people wanted to see right away. Bigi is the only one who’s accomplished it. Then interest wanes and we don’t seem to get any out the door, only Tavernier strikes me as someone who progressed up the leagues with long loan spells, but we havent seen too much of him either.

    Agree we should clear out a lot of those, personally I’d keep Marv around and loan out Sammy and Vuckic for season long loans. Keep Obertan for cups, unless we can get the 3mil back for him.

    Trade for Routledge? 😆

    If pools go down to league two as seems inevitable, we should loan some lads out to them IMO. They might lose some players and their finances, like most, aren’t great.

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  48. ICEDOG
    think hes more than capable of geting us 20 goals a season,team aint clicked as a unit yet the new guys need time to get used to the other players round them and the same for the players we allready got they got to get used to the new guys once every1 figures the other players strenths were they like the ball stuff like that then i think we will see a very good team we got

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  49. Newkie – personally I’d offer offer Obertan in trade for say PEA or RVW. I think he’d perform better in the French or Portugese league. I’d let Gos and Amalfitano go and loan Abied and Sammi out, can’t really comment on Moyo coz I’ve only just heard of him 😳

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  50. Aussie@36 ,There’s tablets you can get to help with the excitement problem I’m told 😉

    Actually looking forward to the game ,probs cause of missing saturdays match and all the newbies we got. Would hope to see Anita and Mbiwa get some game time but like others hopeing we get the game done and dusted so we don’t have to send too many ‘ purples ‘ over there in the return game.

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  51. Happy anniversary for tommorow Toonsy ,you’re ladywife is very forgiving letting you watch the game .Valentines day too tut tut , who would of thought you was such a romantic to wed on the 14th feb 😉

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  52. TAE – Carroll and PEA would cost a canny penny like mate!, would give us great options up front but not sure how much money it would leave for other additions.

    Toonsy – congrats mate 😉 does that get you out of buying valentine gifts as well like? 😛

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