Game On! Aston Villa v Newcastle

Game on at Villa Park
Game on at Villa Park
The focus can return to Premier League football this weekend as international games get shelved for another month or so at least.

That gives us a chance to build on back-to-back wins against Morecambe and Fulham by attempting to make it three wins out of three games by winning at Aston Villa this afternoon.

Positive? Yes although I don’t know why… The reality is that we’ll do well to get a point against Villa although as ever I’ll be over the moon if we manage to exceed my lowly expectations. Safety mode again, expect defeat and anything else becomes a bonus. How about that for sapping the positivity away? There is an actual positive though…

And that is the fact that we have almost a full squad to choose from. We could actually name our strongest team all at the same time for the first time in what feels like ages. Even Alan Pardew is claiming that he has a “selection headache” ahead of the game, which is more than likely caused by wondering how to shoehorn Jonas Gutierrez into the side at any cost! We’ll soon find out however as team news will be added in fully below as and when it becomes available.

If you’re looking for a bit more information and some background regarding the match then why not take a look at the match preview linked at the bottom of this article? It features news regarding injuries for both sides, some history and some stats and facts for you to peruse at your leisure.

That’s about it really. Now it’s up to our team to do the talking for us. Will they make us happy come the final whistle or will we be feeling deflated once again? We’ll soon find out.

Howay the lads!

Aston Villa: Guzan, Lowton, Vlaar, Okore, Luna, El Ahmadi, Westwood, Agbonlahor, Delph, Benteke, Weimann

Subs: Steer, Clark, Bacuna, Helenius, Sylla, Tonev, Kozak.

Newcastle: Krul; Debuchy, Coloccini (c), Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon; Anita, Sissoko, Cabaye; Remy, Cisse, Ben Arfa

Subs: Elliot, Dummett, S.Taylor, Tiote, Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi, Gouffran

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.

318 thoughts on “Game On! Aston Villa v Newcastle

  1. What’s the difference between 5under1and and a cocktail stick ❓
    A cocktail stick has two points. :mrgreen:

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  2. Some lovely interchange play between the front three today. Worry about injuries though as there’s nowt as good as them three on the bench.

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  3. …………..

    Good job MDS 😀

    another positive from today is we have got our first away win of the season and i think we will get a few more than last season…

    The Hull game i think i will worry about more than i did this one. We never seem to do well once we are strong favorites to win.

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  4. The BIG question is how long can we keep HBA fit for?
    He really adds a new dimension to us when he is on form.

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  5. I swear it’s only Newcastle fans who seem to remember when Ben Arfa was touted as a £30m player who Man Utd were scouting. Now everyone seems stunned when he smashes teams like today.

    Is it purely because he joins Newcastle, that means he can’t be that good?

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  6. @Funky

    Yip… That just about sums it up. Well done for your observations. 😉

    He looked awesome today like leek like. !

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  7. I know I will be the first to point it out and everyone will click on, particularly Aussie, is that we look fitter than last season.

    That is a point that the players highlighted to Pards close season. It was evident today. 😉

    Pards got it from the Reality Crew on here. Well done crew. 😉

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  8. Well, i am feeling wuzzy and or uzzy this morning :mrgreen:
    Great win… i saw a comment earlier stating that we dominated early because villa were **** in the first half… maybe villa were **** because we made them play that way through shutting them down quickly and putting pressure on the ball carrier. Some fans are never happy….
    Great performance…

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  9. @Aussie

    It’s getting ridiculous now how often I’m right about all things NUFC. 😉

    You watch dingo, watch how it catches on that we look fitter than last season. 😉

    By the way dingo, the bloody Pardew knockers have been extremely quiet tonight. 😉

    Oh dear. Dear me. 😆 Aussie if you don’t like my friendly term, Dingo, just say and I will bark with laughter. 😆

    Jokin Aussie, I feel you and I are bonding nicely since you found me on Facebook. Please send a friend request. 😉

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  10. Aussie-every time we win its because the opposition are ****, have you never caught on? It was the same last year, and every time we won two years ago it was a fluke due to wonder goals from our strikers, I’m surprised nobody’s told you.

    I see MOTD shafted us again as usual, late on and no highlights. Didn’t even show/mention the PELANTY. It’s a joke really but there we go.

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  11. Oz @ 312 That comment is pretty typical, though, isn’t it. After 2 games I remember somebody saying we were in a relegation scrap 🙄 After 2 games! I look forward to more ‘lucky’ wins in future that are down to individual brilliance (bloody individuals! Have they not heard that their skills have been coached out of them?). 🙄

    From what I’ve see in the last 2 and a bit games, there are many changes evident in the team: better pressing of the opposition is the biggest one, more football on the ground is also clear, but the defence is better organised – they ‘cluster’ around strikers, press more, full backs are not as advanced, Sissoko is more defensive, the wide men do their share without falling too far back. And there’s more pace, thanks to Mbiwa. I like the tactic of Ben Arfa hugging the touchline in the latter stages and attacking the defence – that particular move has been very effective. Cabaye was more advanced yesterday. Generally, there’s better movement all over the park, and much more energy. The midfield is holding the ball better.

    These are all coaching/tactical things that go beyond simplistic number crunching formations. Pardew should get some credit for them.

    I think Santon has had two excellent games, as has Mbiwa. I like the look of Remy, and Gouffran has been a very good substitute. Sissoko is finding his role in the game, and he works well with Anita. Colo is as steady as ever. Cisse still has some work to do.

    Only 2 in a row I know, but there are good signs. Here’s to everything and everybody progressing (and that includes bloggers).

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  12. Despite being big gadgies Mbiwa and Sissoko still haven’t got to grips with the aerial game in England. Yesterday wasn’t the first time that they both went missing in headed ball situations, just look at the Villa goal.
    Perhaps Krul’s mistake at coming out and flapping at the ball could have been cause for the mistake, but without him coming out the corner had “Benteke” written all over it anyway.

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  13. Brisvegas… you start with a bunch of “I told-you-so’s” then revert back to frivolity. 😆 😆 😆

    “Here’s to everything and everybody progressing (and that includes bloggers).”….

    That’s a real cheap shot at Troy, especially when he has spent all weekend avoiding Fenwick’s window 😆 😆

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