Three home games within the space of a week will ensure that, one way or another, we know whether we’ll be safe or not.
Next Sunday the Mackems visit SJP. On Thursday Benfica travel to the North East with United needing to overturn a first leg deficit, but first off it’s Fulham who rock up at the cathedral on the hill in decent form. Positive results in the two league games are a must and if we can win both we should be pretty much clear of any relegation worries. Turning it round against Benfica would be the icing on the cake but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves and take things one game at a time, starting with Fulham.
Newcastle:
Yoan Gouffran will return after sitting out the defeat at Benfica due to being ineligible to play for United in the Europa League. Cheik Tiote could return after a muscle strain although he is officially listed as “doubtful” so we’ll have to wait and see on that one. Danny Simpson should be fine to feature after picking up a knock in Lisbon.
Unavailable for us are Mathieu Debuchy, Fabricio Coloccini, Massadio Haidara, Ryan Taylor, Haris Vuckic and Hatem Ben Arfa.
Fulham:
Steve Sidwell will miss the match after having his appeal for his red card against QPR last weekend overturned. Ashkan Dejagah is out with a sprained ankle, Mladen Petric is missing courtesy of an abductor problem and Mahamadou Diarra is sidelined for the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Previously…
Fulham have a good record against us to be fair. At St James’ Park we edge the results but there isn’t much in it. In total 29 games have been contested between the two sides on home soil with United clocking up 13 wins compared to 8 for Fulham. The other 8 games have seen the points shared between the two sides.
Overall though it is Fulham who have the edge in the head-to-head stakes. Out of the 59 matches played between the two sides in all competitions, Fulham have won 26, United have won 20 with the other 13 meetings ending in a draw.
Our most recent encounter saw Fulham run out 2-1 winners at Craven Cottage in December with goals from Steve Sidwell and Hugo Rodallega either side of a cracker from Hatem Ben Arfa proving to be enough to earn victory for Martin Jol’s side.
Match stats and facts:
Fulham are on their best run since 2010 and are unbeaten in five games.
Mike Williamson could make his 100th appearance for United.
Newcastle have a 50% win ratio in games contested immediately after a Europa League match. Of the six games played after a Europa League outing, United have won three and lost three.
United now can’t match the points tally earned from home games last season. However if they win their remaining four home fixtures we’ll have managed to accrue the most home Premier League wins in a season since the 2002/2003 campaign.
Newcastle have managed just four clean sheets this season in the Premier League. Only Reading have managed fewer.
Final thought:
I can’t stress the importance of this game. To put it simply we need to win and nail Premier League survival at the earliest opportunity and grabbing three points against Fulham should be part of that plan.
We’re the home side and the onus is on us to go out and get the job done. We can’t approach this in a half-hearted manner. We need everyone performing and for everyone to know what is at stake in what is a crucial week for us that gives us an opportunity to effectively banish thoughts of relegation.
Howay the lads!
Date: Sunday, 7th April, 2013
Time: 3pm
Venue: St James’ Park
Toonsy spot on we need a win and with all the players giving their all we’ll get it, and there is no excuse for not giving 100%.
I’m not so sure on Willo making the 100 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
MUST win.
rossco(Quote)
I just hope Aussie doesn’t jinx us
Big Dave(Quote)
I reckon B&B will announce his choice as a good replacement manager for Pardz before Willo will play his 100th game 🙂 🙂 🙂
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
That hurt Big Dave!
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Villa winning
KIMTOON(Quote)
When is Benny due to be back? This whole “doesn’t need surgery now” thing sounds a bit dodgy but I want to see him on the pitch again. I reckon the club believe Benny is off in the summer and that’s why they don’t want to spend money on surgery on him so his next club doesn’t have the same problems.
Andymag(Quote)
Where’s Richietoon these days ? Learning Spanish in Burger King or in Cyprus with a wheelbarrow ?
Munich Mag(Quote)
Aussie @4 😆 😆 😆
Sammi having a good game for Boro by all accounts – a real goal threat 😯
Pleased Reading got beat today, keep QPR n Reading at distance. Need Stoke to find a goal to keep Villa away as well.
Swansea just scored so a Norwich defeat would keep them catchable as well.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Norwich 1.0 down
KIMTOON(Quote)
Uh, learning Spanish in Burger King? I’m sure I missed something, but that’s a very funny set of words, Munich.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Sharpy ,even if Villa win they stay below us on goal difference ,it’s up to us to break away from the bottom 3 ,want at least a point tommorow but a win is really what’s required.
KIMTOON(Quote)
MM ime enjoying sun here in Malta just nipped
in cafe for a drink and have chance to comment,have you been on drugs rRichie push a wheelbarrow no chance lol,must get 3 points sunday,pardew talking about injury,get on with what you have never mind talking about what you don’t have,hope your looking after big dave
icedog(Quote)
**** we have alot of guys out injured…Debuchy out, Simmo and Tiote both doubtful too. Not looking good 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
FSOTC@11 it’s an internal joke mate…not a very good one either at that … 😳
Munich Mag(Quote)
Icedog, good to hear your getting some sun on your bones mate. Was a bit worried about Big Dave during the week as he was getting picked on,I think the sooner you get back to look after him the better mate. Agreed about AP, let’s just get the three points in the bag and cut the crack..
Munich Mag(Quote)
Ice your right me old bean and don’t be letting the nasty pup make you drink too much.
Well Kim how did your night out go did you score 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
The Burger King Academy of Spanish Language and Literacy. I like it.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Kim – I don’t really want Villa building up a head of steam either though to be honest. They are putting some half decent performances together lately as well. Don’t want them buggers climbing out of it.
Sharpy17(Quote)
38 is the magic number this year. I really hope the pressure doesn’t effect us tomorrow as I think if we win tomorrow we’ll be ok but Fulham are a bogey side of ours and I’m a tad un comfy.
Stuart79(Quote)
Looks like Hughter’s boys have equalized.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Ice – you picked the wrong week mate, bloody glorious here mate 9 degrees man 😎
Sharpy17(Quote)
DAVE came on to check your forecast,pup is being good,Kim been out on the pull then?see what happens when you take notice of Richie you get bad habits,MM says someone has been picking on you,l hope you gave them a yellow card,I will be back soon to watch your back lol
icedog(Quote)
SHARPY I will put up with this 20 mate for now,I have plenty knotted hankys to keep the sun off me lol
icedog(Quote)
Ice you know me mate I don’t hand out yellows just straight reds
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave @17 lol ,no mate just overate and overdrank .Paid for it this morning as had to knock tiles off Hazels wall and no fun with a sore head. Enjoyed myself last night though I must admit.
Emoticons not having any of it today : (
KIMTOON(Quote)
Norwich winning 2.1 !
KIMTOON(Quote)
Get in!!!! Winner on the national 😛
Sharpy17(Quote)
Can anyone else win who’s in the relegation scrap?
Jesus!! Is 38 going to be enough?
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy ,well done ,bit of a surprise winner too : )
KIMTOON(Quote)
Stuart ,Yeah it’s a real worry for sure ,I don’t see us safe by a long shot yet 🙁
KIMTOON(Quote)
2.2 at Carrow road now 🙂
KIMTOON(Quote)
Stoke get the equalizer lol
KIMTOON(Quote)
Get in stoke
Newkie(Quote)
Poor old Villa eh 🙂
KIMTOON(Quote)
Nope, villa have it. Thought they would
Newkie(Quote)
**** **** **** Villa lead 🙁
KIMTOON(Quote)
Jesus fcking Christ!
Stuart79(Quote)
Kim – tell me about it. I know naff all about horse racing to be honest and put 3 daft £2 bet on for me, the missus and boy all just to win.
Whilst I know nowt form wise I do have a rule if we go to the races or put a bet on … 3rd letter R.
So I had £2 on RaRe Bob, £2 on AuRoras Encore and the wife fancied Cappa Bleu – which had I put each way would have got me money back as well.
But £134 from a daft £6 bet will just have to do I suppose 😛
Sharpy17(Quote)
Villa 3rd goal ,That man Benteke again
KIMTOON(Quote)
The only good thing about this Villa win is that it brings Stoke into the mix. I cannot see Wigan beating QPR to be honest and even a draw could increase the gap between bottom three.
Stuart79(Quote)
Aye cheers Stoke – Tony Pullis for the sack tomorrow I bet – Martin O’Neil to replace him.
Still it keeps Stoke in our reach I suppose.
Sharpy17(Quote)
its our own form we have to worry about not others,its in our own hands,when its not that’s the time to worry
icedog(Quote)
Sharpy ,That’s great it was 66/1 odds apparently ,bookies must be seething. Our Lewis got , Big fella thanks in the day centre sweep but don’t know where he ended up coming as was eating me late lunch and forgot it was on 🙁
KIMTOON(Quote)
Ice ,very true but I would love Villa to drop.
KIMTOON(Quote)
KIM me to,hearing you have been out on the pull
tut tut,Richie gives everybody bad habits if you take notice of him lol
icedog(Quote)
Kim – I wanted to put a £5 each on but the missus doesn’t like gambling and said the odds of each horse were that high we had nee chance of winning 😯 👿
Aurora had the highest odds of the 3!! 😆
Luckily I forgot to put the Euro lottery on last night so that was the compromise.
Big fella thanks fell at fence 8 I’m afraid.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Is there any updates on our injured players?
Wondering if the likes of Debuchy and Tiote are available to us. Just trying to think of who Pardew will play and where for tomorrow’s game
Sharpy17(Quote)
Friggin hell, cheers Stoke you useless b@stards.
DJG(Quote)
I would take 4 points now from next two games. 2 losses on the bounce this time of season has put us in a bit of trouble. Fair enough city result was expected but result against wigan which really has hurt us. Id be happy with point tomorrow against a decent fulham side. It stops the rot and gives us something to build on for the unwashed
Johno Toon(Quote)
Ice@46 Me pull someone 🙂 that’ll be the day lol.
Sharpy@48 Debuchy defo out and Tiote a doubt apparently 🙁 Plus no Benny or Haidara either.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I can only see max 5-6 points from all our remaining games and frankly I would snatch your hand off for that now if I’m honest .
KIMTOON(Quote)
JOHNO TOON
That was a normal result for us at the DW stadium mate, hammered 4-0 last time..
DJG(Quote)
KIMTOON
April 6, 2013 at 17:35
‘I can only see max 5-6 points from all our remaining games and frankly I would snatch your hand off for that now if I’m honest’
I think that’s what Pards is saying to Carver in the office right now. 🙂
DJG(Quote)
TBH a defeat tomorrow would be disastrous. I would be happy with an ugly win or even a scrappy draw if we are knackered and they are playing as well as they did against QPR. We can not afford to lose tomorrow though, the players and Pardew need to atone for games like the Reading match and really earn their coin tomorrow. It won’t be easy, even Stoke was a right struggle for us at home and they have been one of the worst teams in the second half of the season. 🙁
DJG(Quote)
DJG agree not a must win but definitely a must not lose
premandup(Quote)
DJG@54 LOL too true mate.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Well I think 3pts are a must and as I said if our players give their all then 3pts is achievable
Big Dave(Quote)
Pressure definitely on tomorrow., at our best we could beat any of the remaining teams we have yet to play, but morale is shot again so the next two are key. The Derby is still the big one for me, the whole six pointer malarky, goal difference too! We need to smash em
Newkie(Quote)
I just do not see us scoring more than 1 goal. The question is how many we concede.
Michael12(Quote)
Villa fought to the last minute today by all accounts, had radio commentary on and they said they really deserved it and that Stoke were awfull. Wether Villa were that good or Stoke well underperformed makes no odds as the point remains Villa are scrapping for their lives and getting the rewards for it. I thought Villa showed good spirit last week too and I worry that we are not quite showing the same urgency ,almost like we don’t expect to win at times. I almost think the lads are a little shocked at the lows to which we have fallen after last years lofty heights .
Honestly don’t know what to expect tommorow but fear it won’t be pretty having watched Fulham last week. Emoticons still not shifting for me.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Micheal @60 ,*** we agree !!!
KIMTOON(Quote)
Michael-to be fair, we were unlucky not to get about three against Benfica I thought, twice hitting the post and then ones where Cisse could have had better control or when Marv could have passed when Cisse was in a good position. Our attacking threat with Gouffran and Marv would be good to see, I’d like to see Jonas alongside Cabaye as Tiote is out because he’s a better hassler than perch and covers more ground… we would then have four players capable of running with the ball with a fair amount of skill and pace-Cisse can’t do that but if we stack the team with them we might just be alright..
Newkie(Quote)
So is anyone expecting any surprises from the tactics/starting 11 for tomorrow or will it be 4-2-3-1.
Krul,
Simpson, Saylor, M’Biwa, Santon
Cabaye, Anita
Jonas, Sissoko, Gouffran
Cisse
Oblong(Quote)
Oblong-that’s what I expect. Like I said i’d put Jonas in the middle, leave Anita out and whack Marv on up the pitch, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see that until the 70th minute..
Newkie(Quote)
Oblong
I would have Marveux in if fit in place of Anita. At present I only see Anita as a full back. If Marveux is unfit then I would bring in Gosling. A gamble I know but if we are reluctant or afraid to play him why the hell are we paying his wages
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
I would go (if Simpson injured)
—————Krul—————–
Anita–S.Taylor-Mbwia-Santon
—–Cabaye-Perch–Jonas—–
—————Sissoko————
———Gouffran-Cisse———
Santon only keeps his place because of limited options.
DJG(Quote)
Didn’t Perch get injured on thursday? is he fit to play then.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I personally think Pardew will go with the line up in my last post (if we can guess what the line up and tactics are going to be I’d guess Fulham can aswel). Personally i would like to see us change things around a bit.
Firstly I’d like to see Gouffran up top with Cisse to see how they work together.
I would also prefer to see Anita come in at right back ahead of Simpson. I don’t rate Simpson at all. He stands off his man far to much and adds little going forward or defensively for me.
Some thing like 4-1-3-2
—————–Krul
Anita— Saylor, M’Biwa,— Santon
—————-Jonas
—-Sissoko, Cisse, Marveaux
———-Cisse—Gouffran
With the full backs providing the width. I’d also prefer Perch or Tiote as DM but they are both out for tomorrow 🙄
Oblong(Quote)
Haha maybe I should try Cabaye in CM instead of playing two Cisse’s 😳
Oblong(Quote)
Kim-When Perch went off to me it looked like the sub was planned, and he was feigning a form of injury to waste some time and I assumed he was alright. He might be genuinely injured though so you have a point. Possibly a blessing in disguise if he is out as it forces us to be more attacking? Cue Elliot in midfield 😀
Newkie(Quote)
Have a real bad feeling about our game tomorrow 😥
A 4-0 win would do wonders….
Munich Mag(Quote)
…honestly, strites, just bumped into Steve Penk in a ****** kebab shop. 😯
kicked his heed in like 😎
Rodzilla(Quote)
PARDEW FOR INGLIN!
and stuff
Rodzilla(Quote)
yeah, it is that as well, not this though……. 😈 😈 🙂 😥 😆 😐 😡 💡 💡 😛 😎 ➡ ➡ 🙂 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
Rodzilla(Quote)