A 2-0 loss against Manchester City last weekend was probably an expected yet unwelcome start to the new season. However, despite a lack of attacking edge once more, the rest of the performance left me feeling buoyed and ticked my minimum required ‘100% effort’ box.
Aston Villa managed to scrape a narrow win at Stoke last weekend which is no mean achievement. It is however still early days for Paul Lambert’s side who have been tipped for another season of struggle. Faced with a want-away owner and starved of investment, Villa have finished in the bottom six for three successive seasons. Improvement is the order of the season at Villa Park this time around.
Aston Villa:
New signing Carlos Sanchez is in line to make his debut against Newcastle. Joe Cole and Jores Okore are fit after recent absences however Christian Benteke remains sidelined longer term while Libor Kozak remains out.
Newcastle:
Siem De Jong has recovered from a calf problem and is likely to feature at Villa Park. Facundo Ferreyra is available for the first time after building up more fitness but Cheik Tiote remains absent through, ahem, injury. Hatem Ben Arfa remains excluded from first-team activities.
Looking further ahead, Papiss Cisse is making good progress and should be back in training in a couple of weeks but it’s not good news for Davide Santon who is now likely to be out until November at least with his knee injury.
Previously…
United completed a league double over Villa last season for the first time since 1997/1998 and have a healthy recent record against Paul Lambert’s side. In fact since being relegated at Villa Park and subsequently gaining promotion the season after, United have won five and drawn two of the eight meetings home and away between the two sides.
Of 152 league and cup matches, Newcastle have won 67 compared to 52 wins for Aston Villa. That gives United a winning percentage of 44.08 with Villa winning 34.21% of the time.
Stats and facts…
Villa are attempting to win their opening two matches of a season for the first time in 15 years.
They have won just 15 of the last 57 home league games at Villa Park.
Newcastle have lost their last five away league games and eight of their last nine league outings.
Final thought…
I’m not too downbeat after last weekend. I thought we played well enough but 12 shots at goal with none on target kind of tells a story. We need to penetrate Villa and whilst they are no Manchester City they will want to start of their home campaign with a win and will make it difficult for us.
As I keep saying, it’s still early days in the season but we need something from this game. The longer things go on without a point or three on the board the tougher it gets. We’ve seen disastrous runs of form in recent years and another one would leave us playing catch up even if we are still in August. If Alan Pardew was serious about aiming for the Champions League (O want some of his drugs!) then these are the kind of games we need to win.
Howay the lads!
Date: Saturday, 23rd August, 2014
Time: 12:45pm
Venue: Villa Park
2-0
Stuart79(Quote)
I hate when we are playing games that we should be winning because we nearly always f**k it up.
We should have more than enough for Villa, i am going for a 0-2 win for us.
Looks like De Jong is back fit and ready so i would expect him to start. This would be my team.
http://sharemytactics.com/20181/
Gouffran or Anita really seems to be his big choice. Haidara or Dummett.
Santii(Quote)
Hate Villa, so really want the win, it’s not the team but the fans and the pathetic gloating when we went down. Perhaps they can redeem themselves tomorrow with a tribute to Liam and John .
0.1 scrapping away win .
kIMTOON(Quote)
Pardew said about De Jong – ready to play some part. Expect to see him for the last 15 mins when Anita goes off.
georgio(Quote)
Kim – they’re not too bad and after all we paid them back with a nice 6-0. Villa have been very kind to us for years so when they go down I’l be a little sad 😆
georgio(Quote)
Georgio, I won’t. 😉
kIMTOON(Quote)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< thinks we will win this but be happy with a draw also 😮
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Kim – glad you’re not my Mam! Seriously though that 6-0 in our first home game after the Villa relegation game was joyous in the extreme. They’re just another team to me now. 1-1 tomorrow. 😐
georgio(Quote)
Never forecast owt,just hope we play well and get three points
icedog(Quote)
Ime with KIM hope the swines go down
icedog(Quote)
CC
Can you show me a link to say that Celtic say they have turned a bid down from us? Other than crappy news sites claiming it just because his manager has said that he believes he has the potential to play for bigger clubs than us?
Which by the way Lee Ryder isn’t a swipe at Newcastle or Pardew, it’s just bigging up his own player. Nothing wrong with that an all. Idiot.
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
Big club Villa. No way should they be struggling in the bottom half, they should be up in the top half with us! Sad for their fans…
Didn’t see anything negative from their fans against us I have to say. But wouldn’t surprise me if we could return the favour in the next season or two…
Shouldn’t be losing this game, I have to say. An away win would be a very good result but I’m going to plump for a 1-1 draw.
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
TDS, what, you never heard the chants when we got relegated 😯
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/sport-opinion/neil-cameron-alan-pardew-needs-7640037
kIMTOON(Quote)
KIM
Nope. Wasn’t there that day. Doesn’t say anything in that article either really…
Never heard or read anything from any Villa fans. I’m sure they celebrated the win though. And I’m pretty sure that there would be a minority of NUFC fans who would have jeered if Villa had been relegated that day by going out with a whimper due to a pathetic own goal…
Dunno…I’m yet to be convinced that I should have any bitterness towards Villa. I always thought they were a big club and a proper club. Albeit a bit of a **** one right now…
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
Well a groin opp on Grenier puts a end to any storeys to him coming to the toon this season
icedog(Quote)
source ICE ?
Premandup(Quote)
http://thespectatorsview.com/2014/08/22/mike-ashley-in-talks-to-buy-australian-club/
kIMTOON(Quote)
PREM
http://hereisthecity.com/en-gb/2014/08/22/tp-transfer-of-arsenal-and-newcastle-target-may-be-off-due-to-in/
kIMTOON(Quote)
Due to our defensive frailties, and persistent lack of any REAL creativity for our striker, I just cant see us winning this one.
Best we can hope for imho is a 0-0 draw.
Not fully satisfied with our summer transfer business so far, bare minimum as per normal.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
PREM the owner of the club itself (horses mouth) plus SSN have reported it,they gave him a game (somewhere) and he couldn’t handle it,said he felt
to much pain
icedog(Quote)
Can’t see us keeping a clean sheet. Can’t see us scoring two goals.
1-1 it is.
Why can’t somebody take Pardew out.
Toby le rhone(Quote)
Toby
You want somebody to murder him.?
Premandup(Quote)
…or take him to dinner?
richietoon(Quote)
of course Ritchie. Silly me. My Bad.
Premandup(Quote)
A sliding tackle in five a sides
Toby le rhone(Quote)
One thing for sure Richie woundnt pay for his dinner,he doesn’t even pay for his own
icedog(Quote)
Ice
It has been said that Richie bought a round in The Percy once
Toby le rhone(Quote)
This game for me should be a 3 pointer but I wont be surprised if we only manage to scrape a point.
Big Dave(Quote)
TLR aye mate but it was Richie himself that spread that ****,he does tend to look for hard done by ploy
icedog(Quote)
I once went into the pittza shop I asked Richie would he like one,of course he said yes so I ordered two 12in with everything on,Richie thanks I’ll have the same
icedog(Quote)
DAVE come on mate don’t hedge your bets lol
icedog(Quote)
Away. Not the worst side. I’ll take a draw.
Premandup(Quote)
I’d go
4-3-2-1
—————————Krul————————–
Janmatt—-M’Biwa—-Colo——Haidara
———Sissoko-Colback-Gouffran——–
—————Cabella—–DeJong—————
————————Rivière————————
Subs:
Elliott
Willo
Anita
Aarons
Abeid
Perez
Ferreyra
Oblong(Quote)
Yes homies, peace in the village and respect
Jay Jay(Quote)
Ice I’m surprised he didnt ask you to double yours up 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
I was wondering what the stabbing pains in my back were while I was watching the Bayern match 👿 😛
richietoon(Quote)
Richie you know you can count on me to watch your back mate
Big Dave(Quote)
Will we score is the question?
Stuart79(Quote)
Dave…Is that what you were doing @35? 👿
Stuart…Yep
richietoon(Quote)
Richie I was just thinking about you in a caring way . I thought if you got double it would save you having.to get breakie and lunch
Big Dave(Quote)
Cheers Dave, you’re all heart 😉
It won’t be easy as they’re the home team and have just had a good result (if not a great performance) at Stoke and they’ve also had more wins this year than us which says more about how bad we’ve been rather than how good they are and we are still relying on quite a few new players to hit the ground running. Any away draw is a good result but I think we could sneak a win as we often do ok against Villa…hopefully anyway.
richietoon(Quote)
2-1 the toon
Sharpy17(Quote)
5-0 to us
brisvegas(Quote)
Rumour has it that Pardew has had strong words with Colback ahead of today’s game after confusing his team mates against City.
He has been told on no uncertain terms that all corners and set pieces are to either hit the first man, or be floated into Mike Williamson at the back stick. None of this land it in the danger zone carry on! 😆
Oblong(Quote)
Putting myself in the firing line for a double whammy of either bliss or frustration.
Riviere transferred in – 2-1 toon!
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Game is on BT sport 1, great for us with Virgin. Coverage starts 12pm.
kIMTOON(Quote)
2-2 with Cabella scoring the equaliser in the last minute…
Williamson sent off
Munich Mag(Quote)
2-1 to the toon
Riviere & colback to score 😉
mark(Quote)
KIM thanks I will watch it on my box,for free of course lol
icedog(Quote)
It’s got another 6-0 written all over it.
Now I’m bracing for a last minute goal from Obertan to save our blushes.. 🙂
Newkie(Quote)
2-0 Sissoko and Cabella
CC(Quote)
What’s there to get excited about.. whats the point.. we haven’t bought any “new” players. We have only replaced old ones.. oh the horror of our team! 😥
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
I’m having my wig manicured, going to Tesco to get some supplies and then watching the match.
We really should be looking at scoring at least a couple of goals today with our new super dupa, creative master of the universe. Especially considering Villa are one of the few PL teams to have a worse defensive record than us over the last couple of years.
Stuart79(Quote)
Aussie – Finally coming round to getting on the reality team I see, albeit completely Mis-understanding the real points, but we’ll get you there eventually. It’s just a bit harder for you being uneducated.
Stuart79(Quote)
AMF@52, are you on the **** mate ? 🙂 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
Eminem, ive joined Stuart’s emo crew.. had my frontal lobotomy like Stuart and now everything shines a nice black colour! 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
AMF@56, just because you’ve got Stuart69 *****-slapping you don’t try and pull me over onto your side 🙂
Where’s your 2ic Brisvegas when you need him 🙂
Munich Mag(Quote)
Watching and smiling 😆
brisvegas(Quote)
Eminem, Stuarts a laugh a minute, I enjoy his attempted taunts.. thanks for you support tho ! 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Stuart69@54, I just had a flash of you there sitting in the barbers chair looking like a cross between wierd Al Jancovic and Collocini wearing your brown ale toon top, with a Tesco’s bag filled with cans of brown ale on your lap… 🙂
I could be wrong though 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
Bris@58 keep an eye on your boy there mate 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
AMF@59, you know you can always rely on me to watch your back mate 🙂
Munich Mag(Quote)
Really looking forward to how Cabella, Riviere and the new look toon cope with the rigours of a high intensity away game.
We really should be hoping to get something from this game, and I think we will as long as our defence stand the test
Munich Mag(Quote)
This is going to be exciting. Eight behind the ball playing on the break. Inviting Villa on to us. And still some say Pardew is alright
Toby Le Rhone(Quote)
I don’t know what the result will be. I hope for a win but have been wrong many times in the past. I can’t see this being a easy win but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to be.
stem(Quote)
I did like the effort Colback, Carbella, Perez and Willo made last week.
stem(Quote)
This should be a slightly easier game than City, financially speaking.
stem(Quote)