Game On! Newcastle v FC Anzhi Makhachkala

Another European night at St James' Park
Another European night at St James’ Park
A place in the last eight of the Europa League is on offer this evening as Newcastle United take on Anzhi Makhachkala of Russia in this second leg Round of 16 tie.

With the tie balanced at 0-0 following the stalemate in Moscow it’s all still to play for and neither team is out of the running.

The presence of away goals is dangerous one and no doubt Amzhi will be looking to exploit that so we have to keep things tight at the back. Having said that, we still need to score if we are to make sure that it’s us who progresses to the next round so we can’t “park the bus” and will need to push forward ourselves which could leave holes for a rather threatening Anzhi attack to exploit.

Another interesting balancing act is the need to progress tonight whilst keeping one eye on our fixture against Wigan on Sunday. Granted we don’t have a 4,000 mile round trip to consider this time, but we still need to keep a degree of freshness in our side ready for a trip to an in-form Wigan side. Some rotation may occur, but I still expect to see a strong side picked.

For a more detailed look at the fixture, including injury news for both sides, some facts and stats and some random thoughts about the match itself, why not take a look at my match preview, which is online here, if you haven’t already had a peek at it.

The game will be live in the UK on ESPN so if you can’t make it to the ground then don’t worry. If you haven’t got ESPN then a whole host of overseas broadcasters are showing the match so picking up a stream shouldn’t be a problem. Once again guys, if you do find a good stream then by all means feel free to share it by posting a link to it in the ‘comments’ section below.

I should have been home tonight but I’ve been exiled in Europe for an extra 24 hours due to the snow and travel conditions which means I’m not around to add the team news in. However, Big Dave is and will add it in at the bottom of this article as soon as he can.

I think that’s just about all of it covered and we can leave the rest of the story which will unfold this evening up to the players and manager at St James’ Park. Hopefully we’ll be talking about the match for the right reasons at full-time and can look forward to who we might be facing in the Quarter Finals of the Europa League.

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Elliot; Santon, S.Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa, Haidara; Anita, Tiote, Cabaye (c); Marveaux, Cisse, Sissoko.

Subs: Harper, Perch, Bigirimana, Obertan, Gutierrez, Campbell, Shola Ameobi.

FC Anzhi Makhachkala: Gabulov; Eschenko, Ewerton, Joao Carlos, Zhirkov; Jucilei, Ahmedov, Diarra; Boussoufa, Eto’o, Carcela-Gonzalez.

Subs: Pomazan, Agalarov, Tagirbekov, Shatov, Logashov, Traore, Smolov.

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.

480 thoughts on “Game On! Newcastle v FC Anzhi Makhachkala

  1. Aussie ,We beat them 3.0 at home in december back befor our newbies arrived with a depleted squad ,Ba 2 and Bigi 1 . Only reason I say a draw is cause we are away ,but with all our new talent we must have a chance of a win . Benny will be a huge miss for the rest of the season and if Cabaye isn’t fully right and still plays that could hamper us further .Jonas looked ok in the middle on thursday far better than on the wing so guess he’ll start if Cabs aint right. Would like to see Campbell come on at some point as it’s important he gets plenty of game time with the senior pros.

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  2. Kim, the only thing that concerns me is that Wigan normaly go into survival mode at this stage of the season and they become unpredictable. If we play as well as we can, we can win but Wigan will make it bloody tough.

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  3. Aussie ,I know ,what is it with them , every season the same ,utter ***** then a last minute revival . To be fair under Martinez they ain’t been too bad but I don’t think the club has ever gotten higher than 10th or there abouts.

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  4. After Aussie’s prediction I will go for another scrappy 1-0 win for us for me the only problems we have is making real chances, but we are getting stronger at the back.

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  5. Dave ,yeah that is our saving grace at the moment ,we do seem less fragile ,having Saylor back is a real boost . Would like to see Campbell on at some point to boost our attack.

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  6. Kim yeah I want to see Adam keep getting game time, as he can give us something different cause lets face it we know what Strolla gives us 😉

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  7. Never got to see the second Anzhi game due to being stuck in the air on a flight, but I was absolutely ecstatic when I turned on the internet to find out that we had won. Believe me, Anzhi had class throughout there team, and we could all see from the first leg that they had tremendous skill and movement within the team, ffs Eto may not be the striker he was a few years back but he is still a handful.
    I just want to make a point about Pardew getting some hammer from the fans at times regarding his tactical frailties. Let’s be honest, he is due his criticism, but we need to be consistent, and when the team gets it right he deserves praise. Huidink is one of the best managers in world football without a doubt. Look at his international record, his club record, he is one of the top managers in europe if not the world. He is also earning gazzilions of dollars at Anzhi. For a crouton like Chuck to come on here and start having a crack at Pardew for losing the tactical battle against Huidink, only goes to show that the bloke doesn’t have a clue. He needs to give his heed a shake.
    It isn’t always the best team that wins the game. I remember a few years back watching FC Bayern batter Chelsea in the Champions League final only to lose. It happens all the time.

    What a real pity for the toon is that the magic of HBA won’t be available for us for the rest of the season. The magicians can always do something special to win games, Drogba did this for Chelsea, HBA for the toon. He may have been the key to us winning the Europa League. A strong defensive unit is a great start and a must if a team is going to progress. The magicians win the games.

    Benfica will be a tough nut but as long as long as we have a disciplined defensive unit we are in with a chance. It’s all down to discipline and what happens on the night.

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  8. MM your right what I have noticed with some fans is if we lose it’s Pards fault and when we win it’s all down to the players.
    Yeah Pards isn’t the best manager in footie but then we arn’t one of the best teams

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  9. Big D, you got my jist perfectly mate. We all know that he isn’t the best, but when we win he deserves the plaudits imo.

    The few highlights I saw of the second game Anzhi had tremendous movement with and off the ball. That is a typical coaching tactic from Huddink, they move the ball quickly. Actually it is a tremendous feather in Pardew’s cap to have outwitted Huiddink twice, well done I say.

    I bet Liverpool wish they were as far as us 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

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  10. Kimtoon, are you swooning at the mo ?

    Agree 100%, Ginola was an absolute toon legend !!!

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  11. MM, thankfully I escaped Dundee….for Hertfordshire. Quite a change!

    I had never seen them before though, was buckled laughing.

    They should ban kareoke in my opinion. Unless you have passed a test and have a license to do it, shouldn’t be allowed. Breaking this rule should be punishable by be flogged in the local town square

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  12. The Stevie Taylor Forrest Gump thing is good. I was flying from Murcia to Toon for that very game and flight was delayed so I missed it. Was gutted.

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  13. Moreno, congrats on your big move daan saaf mate. I would imagine the cultural interchange is somewhat more enhanced matey, plus you can get to even more toon games. Lucky you ! 🙂

    HTL !

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  14. Manager Alan Pardew said: “Looking at him, I think he’s going to need an operation on his hamstring, and it will probably leave him missing for the rest of the year, I think. We have had to absorb that in all the good news that we have had.”

    I hope that this quotation from Pardew is wrong. He perhaps meant “until the end of the season” 😯 😯 😯 If HBA will be missing until the end of the year….well….what can one say. 👿

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  15. MM& NEWKIE @461 & 462 😆 Just a tad ,then had to go visit the wrinkly ones which brought me back down to earth. 🙄

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  16. MM@473 ,Agree would be miffed if that were the case . Is this a reaccurance of his previous injury 😕 if so what the hell has the medical team been doing and what went on in clarefontain for him to still be not right 😕

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  17. Thanks MM mate. Aye I have went from smack ridden streets to a village in which their is an organic food shop every other one down 😯

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  18. Aye Moreno@476, it sounds like a culture clash big time. Take it slowly mate, you’ll be ok in the end 😆 😆

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  19. Everton 0 Wigan 3

    Everton 1 Man City 0

    Then again according to Chucky and the likes we “should” be beating the likes of Stoke, Wigan etc…. 🙄 🙄

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  20. Your style is very unique in comparison to other people I’ve read
    tuff from. I appreciate you for posting when you’ve got the opportunity, Guess I’ll just bookmark this page.

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