Newcastle v QPR – Premier League match preview

toonsy

Howay the lads!
Howay the lads!
Newcastle take on Queens Park Rangers in what can most definitely be described as a “six pointer” at St James’ Park tomorrow afternoon.

Performances by Newcastle have improved in recent weeks even if results have been missing, but the same could be said for Harry Redknapp’s QPR outfit who are unbeaten in four Premier League games and finally won a match at the 17th attempt last weekend.

It will be a game full of nerves but it’s a game Newcastle simply have to win when you look at their other two fixtures over the festive period. With trips to Manchester United and Arsenal following this game the need for three points couldn’t be greater as United tread water dangerously above the drop zone.

Newcastle:

Hatem Ben Arfa is unavailable, as are Yohan Cabaye and Steven Taylor with injuries that affect our starting side. Dan Gosling, Ryan Taylor and Haris Vuckic are out although I feel that injuries to those just weaken the squad generally and not the starting XI.

James Perch is a doubt with a neck injury although Gabriel Obertan has resumed training finally and could be recalled to the bench. Mike Williamson, Jonas Gutierrez and Cheik Tiote are all one yellow card away from an automatic one match suspension.

QPR:

Harry Redknapp will be without goalkeeper Julio Cesar and right-back Jose Bosingwa who both miss out with back injuries. Longer term absentees include Kieron Dyer (surprisingly!), Park Ji-Sung, Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora, although the latter is said to be edging closer towards a return and wants to be back in action in January.

Previously…

It’s 19 years since QPR managed to take all three points away from Tyneside owing to a 2-1 victory back in October 1993. There have been just four home meetings since then with Newcastle coming out on top in three of them and the other ending in a 1-1 draw during our Championship campaign.

Overall the two clubs have a similar record. There have been 44 meetings between the two clubs in all competitions with United just shading it with 20 victories compared to QPR’s 16 victories.

You can’t get away from a match preview with QPR and fail to mention the highest scoring game ever between the two sides. Taken from a time when men were men and shorts were, well, short (22nd September 1984), this match saw the two sides play out a 5-5 draw on the plastic pitch that used to be a feature of Loftus Road.

Stats and facts:

This will be the sixth different side Harry Redknapp has managed at St James’ Park (Bournemouth, West Ham, Portsmouth, Southampton, Portsmouth again, Tottenham and now QPR) but he is yet to take all three points away from SJP on his first visit with a new club.

QPR have not won back-to-back Premier League games since December 1995.

Only five players have scored for United in the Premier League this season (Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye and Gael Bigirimana) – the fewest amount of goalscorers in the league.

United’s December match loss total now stands at 42 games lost in this month since the Premier League began – the highest in the history of the Premier League.

Final thought…

In a way I’m quite glad that QPR managed to beat Fulham last week. My thinking is that if there is some crazy losing streak to be ended or a dry spell for a striker to be brought to an end you can bet your mortgage on it being against us so at least we have that particular monkey of our backs.

Redknapp is a man motivator so you can bet that his side will be up for this match and Newcastle will have to match that if they want to take the three points in this game. Fortunately performances at least have been improving even if results have still been wanting, but the same can be said for QPR who will need to turn their habit of picking up draws into a habit of winning if they want to breath comfortably towards the end of the season.

Which way will it go?

Howay the lads!

Date: Saturday, 22nd December, 2012

Time: 3pm

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.

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151 thoughts on “Newcastle v QPR – Premier League match preview”

  1. Toonsy ,Nice preview .It’s gonna be hard work tommorow without Benny ,I just don’t see where our creativity is gonna come from . Sloppy chops will have the players fired right up for this one and they will be pumped up after the win last weekend 👿 Arry’s like a bloody black cat passing our path just when you don’t want it , if it ain’t talking about our players the week befor we play his lot it’s getting a surprise win V Fulham 🙄 .If they can beat Fulham then they can certainly beat us especially now all the pressure is on us at home like. Anyway let’s hope for a nice early christmas pressie ,god knows I need cheering up at the mo . HWTL

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  3. yes QPR have injurys but its the same team that beat fulham,KIM i worry about your point too,i hope he is telling the players the same he keeps telling or fans to be there 😐

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  4. Ice ,I was confident of a win right up to Arry takeing over then after seeing them beat Fulham I’m not at all sure of a win now. Think I may be less concerned if Cabs ,Benny and Taylor were in our starting 11 ,as it is it’s a bloody nightmare waiting to happen AGAIN 🙄

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  6. one thing i dont like KIM is pardew coming out and saying its all doom and gloom in the camp for gods sake 👿

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  7. Groucho @5 , I have been very impressed with how much Anita has come on in such a short time and am the first to admit that I thought he was too lightweight and getting pushed off the ball early doors. He himself said he’s been working out to get more strength to combat the physicality of our PL and it certainly seems to be paying off as he looks very comfy at this level of late. Having said all that he can’t do it all alone and we could really do with Benny helping out imo.

    Ice@6 ,When did he say that? ,christ he’s doing my head in ,why can’t he shut up 🙄 .

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  8. Kimtoon Pardew’s comment about doom and gloom is just his ham-fisted way of trying to assure the fans that they are taking this poor form seriously, and want to do something about it. I hope 🙄

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  9. KIM i saw it on the news now page this morning ive looked again and cannot find it as it keeps changing,pardew face in latest interviews say hes not right imo

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  12. MM, I would rather he just shut up as her just seems to sour the milk everytime he speaks lately. 👿

    Ice@11 ,Interesting ,we wouldn’t get him anyway not with our low ball bids 😆 . So does that mean the press stories on him over here were **** or is it them trying to get a bidding war started on their player 😕 .Ah well good luck with that one as Lamearse won’t be playing that game.

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  13. @ 11. same old same old. Been here many times before. Different players, same story.
    I think maybe the rumours come out of NUFC to deflect attention away from our real target.(in the singular ❗ )
    👿

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  14. Good preview toonsy. It comes down to playing well on the day. No more talk from Pardew just show us some real effort on the pitch lads. I hope we start 4-3-3 against them but is it likely considering both Ba and Cisse want to be the striker in every game? I will be interested to see what Pardew does here. Such a crucial game for him I think. A loss would be a disaster for Pardew and might begin the process of a sacking in Ashley’s mind although I still don’t think it would happen until the new year. Four straight losses to QPR, ManU, Arsenal and Everton might be the end of him though. My guess is we will pick up 2 or 3 points from those 4 games. Either a win against QPR or draws against QPR and Everton. So 19 or 20 points to go into the new year. We’ll still be right on the edge in other words.

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  15. I dont think this match tomorrow will be easy.
    We are going to have to put in our best performance of the season to come away with 3 points.

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  16. Pardew now saying we need 2 or 3 players in. He will try to convince Ashley. Oh and Ashley wanted another player in during the last window. Why didn’t he get one then? Don’t believe it for a second. It’s too easy to say it after the fact to take a little heat off the owner. It won’t work. Excuses and after the fact statements won’t work in the future either Ashley. Commit to improving the club or get out.

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  18. This latest seems to be a last desperate plea from Pardew. Get me 2 or 3 players in Ashley. That at least makes some sense. To have to come out and do it like that shows how poor the communication are between Pardew and Ash/Llam. I would like to see more heat on Llambias at games. The supporters should show Ashley they despise the incompetent fool and want him out. How can we attract top players with that fool representing us? It’s madness and has to end just as having Dennis Wise around had to be ended. For me he must go if Ashley wants to retain any credibility as owner.

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  19. we need to play at the intensity we showed we can play at v citeh.
    hopefully the lemon can break his bitter run of form.
    we need to see some of his zest, cus up to now he has been taking the pith.
    I’ll take any win, but a clean sheet would be a bonus too.
    Howay the Lads.

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  20. BB@19 ,I don’t see Cisse as a lemon , he’s been squeezed out to the right but has still made some good passes to Ba and other players. Time to judge him is if Ba goes and he still doesn’t come good.

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  21. But I would think we could say his ball control and especially his shooting have been terrible this season Kim. Shots ballooned over the net in almost every game he has played in. One decent header in a Europa game and one off his backside in the Prem. He has four all together I think. I really am not sure of him at all any more. Surely he must come good if Ba leaves, otherwise we may indeed get relegated. 😥

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  22. G2 he does not become a bad player over night mate,as ive said before he was top scorer in germany for two seasons in a very poor team and one yr kept them up with his goals and banged them in here when played in his best place,hes down in the mouth with the tactics imo

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  25. Big Dave – you should be confident, we all should. Because if we cant beat QPR at home, then there really is something seriously wrong.
    Hopefully the Lads have had a good week in training, and are gonna give us the performances we need.to get the win.

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  26. Ice I have been upbeat today because I spent all day tattooing my wee mate thats just back on leave from the Marines, and thats me off now till the 8th Jan so im in a good mood 😉

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  27. DAVE aye its hard graffting all yr round,not like batty he just goes scratting
    in the bins for a few quid or gets someone to do it for him the rat bag 😀 😀

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  28. i see someone found chelsea tatics in the bin after there last game,pity pardew didnt find it 😆 😆 😆

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  36. G2@21 .tbh I think he’s not on form cause he’s out his normal position and maybe he’s trying too hard to score in the same way that Ba was end of last season out wide. Basicly they both need to play centrally and obviously that means only one plays and Pards rotates them . Trouble is nither will want that in particular Ba who needs to keep himself in the shop window like. He may say he’s happy with us but from the way his agents have been advising him it don’t look like it to me, the interview he didn’t have permission for being an example of not towing the party line.

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  37. KIM dont buy this agent bullshit,i ask you who employs them, ba,if someone was doing something for you and you didnt like it what would you do???

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  40. I agree 100% on what Ice says about the Agents all Ba has to do is tell then to shut the fuk up and stop causing ****.

    Kim it would be ok if Pards did rotate them but I havent seen Ba pushed out on the wing the way Cisse has

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  43. Dave ,yeah I tend to think the whole will he won’t he go is a distraction the club could really do without at the moment tbh.

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  44. this is the only time that i agree with jabba,but if he does not sign a contract which is improved they say,ship him out asap,the club and fans cannot keep going through this bloody circus every window ime fed up to the back teeth with it

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  46. Kim @ 43 like Ice i’m fuked off with it all they need to get it sorted for once and for all, as I said lastnight if he is still here after Jan imo it’s only because no one else would take the chance on him, is that the type of player you want to support and cheer ❓

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  50. DAVE in my honest thoughts no club is going to risk 30mil on him with no medical cover which he will not get after one company turns you down,you know how them gits work,thats why jabba allowed the clause in the first place hes no dummy and imo jabba will not give in after giving him a improved offer,ba is now behind the eight ball,but its not helping anything

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  53. Batts it’s ok I checked and you have 😆 😆 thats what I like about you say it as you see it 😉

    Ice but as I said if he is still here without a new contract with no clause in it, a big part of me will believe he is only here because no one else will take the risk, so he won’t be here because he wants to be and thats not the type of player I would be wanting to cheer

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  55. @MsiDouglas: Packed Journal sport tomorrow. Some great transfer news for #nufc fans plus bumper analysis of ‘six point Saturday’… #remy

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  56. Hope we have Remy signed up but might just be paper hype/bollox. Hash tag suggests its something to do with him

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  58. Batts they were the days Lad don’t think we’ll see them again.

    3HRW yeah the same guy was telling us allsorts last window, how we had Debuchy in the bag etc, but I guess it sells papers and after all thats what they are there for

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  59. Re Remy , I’ll believe it when I see it.

    Dave , Got to agree mate ,it’s proper tiresome now and HAS to be sorted one way or another as like you I don’t want us to keep a player who’s only here cause no other ****** wants to take a punt on him.

    KK@48 ,Brilliant stuff ,well done 😆

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  60. Will be a tough game tomorrow. Unlike City, QPR won’t be giving us any space and will probably aim to frustrate the fans for the first hour or so.

    I have noticed that they have stopped leaking goals.

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  61. I wish people would stop listening to that idiot, @MsiDouglas. He talks **** and doesn’t know any more than us 90% of the time. I don’t know how he has fooled people into thinking he is some kind of credible source..?

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  64. it was always on the cards that Marseille would be out to exact their revenge after the HBA debacle.
    Plus we aint calling the shots no more.
    I never thought we would stump up £10M, so 15 is way out of the question. I dont care how desperate Pardew is.
    NEXT 😕

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  66. Just a thought, but maybe we can get that CB we have needed for the last 3 yrs instead. 😛

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  68. BB

    Are you really getting this worked up over an article in the Daily Mail?

    Chill out. 😆

    Ask yourself, where did they get their valuation from?

    All they have done is use the presidents comments to produce another one of their nonsense scenarios.

    Marseille have no need to exact revenge on us. We paid a lot for the loan and then an additional 5.5million fee. I doubt there is any animosity there.

    Labrune’s comments are just standard negotiation tactics. They know about the Ba situation and they are simply playing their hand. If it were true that they didn’t want rid of Remy, he would have featured a lot more recently and the manager would come out and say it, not the president.

    Truth is, Remy has massively gone off of the boil at Marseille since his last injury and they would probably be glad to sell him. I’m sure they would prefer the end of the season, but know they can get more if they do so in the winter transfer window.

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  69. being cynical, I’ll bet this weeks talk of Remy, sold a few more tkts for tomorrows match.
    No fools this regime like. Know all the scams. 😯

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  71. nar I’m not worked up Kid, just taking the **** bit.
    I still dont think it will happen tho

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  72. I doubt Remy will cost £10million, let alone £15million, which is just a nonsense figure from a paper that can’t be bothered to research the player’s recent career. He has been hit with injuries, off-form, and rarely starts games. OM would probably snap our hands off if we offered them 10million Euros, let alone pounds.

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  73. begs the question, why are we interested then. ❓
    surely not the player to dig us out of the curremt slump

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  74. the KID is right remy has been carrying a thigh injury for quite a while and think he has only payed one game this yr,so even if its clear now he not match fit,and we need someone to hit the ground running imo

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  75. BB

    He is a very good player that has struggled for form since his last major injury. I reckon partly because he hasn’t been able to get a consistent run in the team and also because he probably feels his career has gone a bit stale at OM. He has been interested in a move for at least 18months now.

    Sometimes a player is just right for a situation. In our case, we desperately need a winger forward to make the first team more balanced. I am certain Remy can add that. Absolutely certain of it. Failing Remy, Pilkington would be a great acquisition on the cheap. Only has one year left on his contract after this season.

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