Just a few days on from a tough night at Anfield, it doesn’t get any easier for Eddie Howe as Manchester City arrive at St James’ Park; which is now free from Sports Direct signs splattered all over the stadium!
Guardiola’s men arrive top of the table and fresh from a 7-0 win over Leeds on Tuesday night; meaning they’ve had 48 hours more rest than our lot.
On the plus side, we put in an improved display at Liverpool, albeit in defeat. We didn’t fold like we did at Leicester, we worked our socks off and had our moments on the counter the odd time we managed to break their press.
We’ll also be playing 11 vs 11 on Sunday, which will be nice after Mike Dean’s embarrassing display on Thursday gave Liverpool a 12th man from start to finish.
Seriously though, we’ll have to be at it in all areas to cope with Man City; who put in their most devastating display of the season in midweek and arrive with a fully fit squad.
Elsewhere this weekend, we’ll also have to hope Aston Villa and Arsenal help us out, with them playing Burnley (1 point above us) and Leeds (6 points above us), respectively.
Team news
Both Jamal Lewis (hamstring) and Federico Fernandez (thigh) will be missing. Sadly, it seems neither will play again this year.
Callum Wilson could return after a rest, but he, along with Javier Manquillo and Isaac Hayden, is just one booking away from a suspension.
As for the visitors, Joao Cancelo is back from a one-match ban (sigh) and, Feran Torres aside, Pep Guardiola says he has a fully fit squad to pick from ahead of City’s trip to Tyneside.
Predicted line ups
(4-5-1): Dubravka – Krafth, Schar, Lascelles, Ritchie – Joelinton, Shelvey, S Longstaff, Willock, Almiron – Wilson.
(4-1-2-3): Ederson – Cancelo, Stones, Dias, Zinchenko – Rodri – Gundogan, De Bruyne – Foden, Jesus, Sterling.
Howe admitted that he’d need to rotate his team for this one, feeling three games in seven days is a tough task when we’ve been chasing the ball for large periods.
There’ll be a temptation to go with five at the back given City come in fresh from a 7-0 win over Leeds, but it’s not Howe’s style to park the bus. He didn’t do it at Anfield, so I can’t see him doing that at St James’ Park.
With that in mind, I can see Krafth coming in for Manquillo, who may need a rest after a few tough games against Barnes and Mane.
Ritchie will come in at left-back in Lewis’ absence, while rotation in midfield could also hand a rare opportunity to Sean Longstaff; whose fresh legs and pressing could come in handy against City.
Willock may also return to give us an option to support our attack on the counter. With Shelvey so key in helping us keep the ball and release forwards on the break, that could mean Hayden misses out?
Out wide, Joelinton and Almiron could be key in protecting both our full-backs (Almiron’s energy could be key in tracking the elusive Cancelo), while Wilson may return up top after being rested in midweek.
This would mean Saint-Maximin misses out. He may be unable to play after picking up a knock on Thursday night, but even if he’s fit, this may be a good time to keep him fresh for upcoming games against Man Utd and Everton.
Fraser had one of his best games in a black and white shirt at Liverpool, but he’s another we may want to save for upcoming games; especially when his recent injury record may not agree with him playing two tough games in the space of a few days.
Match prediction
I’m intrigued to see how we approach this one after seeing us park the bus every time we’ve faced City in recent years.
Saying that, I fear it could get ugly if we try and go toe-to-toe with a fresh and fully-fit Guardiola side who arrive on the back of a 7-0 win!
We’ll need to be everything we were at Liverpool and much better again if we’re to get anything here. Individual errors must be cut out and our decision making at the other end also must be spot on.
Hoping for a performance full of positives, even if we come away with no points.
Prediction: Newcastle 0-3 Man City
HOWAY THE LADS!
Bl00dy Hell. Villa/Burnley called off with only 3 hrs notice. That makes 6 off this weekend. We are in for a winter break lads and lasses. No doubt. There are meetings of Managers and Execs on Monday and I have even seen suggestions that Captains will meet.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
I will repeat what I said on the last thread. The Manchester Evening News were reporting yesterday that the PL could be paused until Jan 17. That would help us get new players in and give us 20 games to save our season.
I will also say again though that if they stop then it will be hard to start up again because the Covid numbers will probably be worse. I cannot see them allowing fans in until probably March.
Depends on how hospitalizations in the general population rates look. If infections are high but mild then we might catch a break.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Me and Lew got our boosters today.
Massive queue of people going in for 1st and second jabs, we had an appointment so no need to queue thankfully as it was different queue for booster.
kimtoon(Quote)
My daughter couldn’t get an appointment until jan 8th !
kimtoon(Quote)
It has taken another variant that is even more transmissable to wake some people up. Unbelievable. I have a booster scheduled for Dec 28. There hasnt been a big surge here yet, but it was always predicted because of the time of year anyway.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Ed’s site have banned the word “Covid” which I find really strange as this is the biggest story in football at the moment. As fans we have to be watching closely. Imagine Burnley fans. I think they have had 2 games called off with less than 3 hrs notice. I think most fans driving down would be glued to twitter or listenting to Five Live so they could turn around. If I was driving up from Manchester tomorrow that’s what I would be doing. Who knows how the PL and Govt will act with 6 games off this weekend.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Eric/Kim – do you think it’s the spread of this variant that has some scrambling for their 1st & 2nd vaccines or is it the restrictions being imposed on those that don’t get them?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
It truly blows my mind that BoJo appointed someone to investigate party gate – who was actual part of the **** party!!!.
Bojo was photographed involved in it, his chief investigator quits having been part of it … and they’ve appointed SOMEONE ELSE to look into the claims?!?!?!!!
How the F@CK can it still be denied???.
I avoided commenting on it as it’s politics on a footy blog – but serious?!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Talk is that Man Utd ready to let Martial & Lingard go in January – £30m for Martial & I reckon Lingard could be bought for around £10-15m.
When you consider £40m for Joelinton – those 2 lads for a similar amount and both would be ready to go straight into the first team imo.
Would that be a no brainer?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: Martial is a tough one because he is leaving for guaranteed 1st team football. Lingard is a no brainer. He proved himself at West Ham. I was a bit sceptical of him before that because I thought he had lost his focus. He was big on Instagram and had that stupid clothing JLingz clothing line like he was a Pogba mini-me. He probably had a few hangers on as well. I think he is a Manchester lad and sometimes their old friends can hold them back. I never really doubted his talent though. He may not be an automatic 1st choice for Man U but he would be for us.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Same here in Australia, what a coincidence.
Someguy(Quote)
Eric – I think played more regularly Martial would get us goals. Maybe not as prolific as Wilson but certainly more than Joelinton, ASM and Almiron – put together probably.
He’s not an out and out CF, but I’m not sure where we get one of those in January without spending £100m.
I think Martial & Lingard would suit Howes style of football as well.
Those 2 up front would allow the rest of the attention/money to be allocated to fixing that defence.
Sharpy17(Quote)
You already know the answer Sharpy – a bit of both 🙂 Over here we are very close to reaching a critical mass with only the true conspiracy theorists holding out. Biden has mandated vaccines for the army and for big companies. It was challenged in court this week and upheld. Google has said it will sack any employee who is not vaccinated. It only took about a year but I think most are taking this seriously now. I think the 1st vaccines were rolled out in Jan so it has been about a year. I wasnt eligible until May but can get the booster now as it has been 6 mo.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Martial did have a hot period for Man U when he scored a lot of goals, so he is capable. He has no chance there with Ronaldo ahead of him and them wanting Greenwood and Rashford to succeed.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
I am in two minds about the football being called off. It would help us which is the only reason I would be for it. But it can get ridiculously cold in Chicago around now so you pretty much hibernate. The Xmas fixtures help.
In dont want to get into politics but Boris seems to just be a calamity at the moment. To me, he always was, but now even his party sees it.
I dont see Covid as a political issue, I see it as a football issue at the moment which is why I think it is OK to talk about it on an NUFC Blog.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
now theres a one for you Gibraltar has the highest up take on the injections 99% and yet they now have the worst infection rate in the world the whole island is rampid with the virus,so whats that all about???
icedog(Quote)
Do you know Fat Boy Moss has a record store in Headingly? Why isnt he reffing the Leeds game? If Mike Dean can Ref Liverpool when he lives 13 miles from Anfield and his sons are season ticket holders it seems only logical that Moss should Ref Leeds as he wouldnt have far to travel.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Yes, that is very odd. How many are dying though Ice ? Would be the figure i would want, if it’s very low then we can attribute that to the vaccine because we all know prior to the vaccine thousands were dying everyday.
It doesn’t stop you getting it but helps to stop it killing you , just like the flu jab.
kimtoon(Quote)
It tells you a lot about the quality of the Refs in the lower leagues if Dean and Moss are still reffing the big PL games. I have said this before but I think there is only 1 English Ref who does European games. That tells you a lot as well.
We have Martin Atkinson tomorrow who I dont think is as bad as those 2 but he turns 51 in March. I thought they had to retire at 50? Obviously not!!! Dean is 53 and Moss is 51. No wonder they cannot keep up with play FFS.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
If someone is on the border of being clinically obese (Jon Moss) he should not be Reffing top league football games. When they do calculations of the % of a population who are obese they do a calculation based on height and weight called a Body Mass Index. I bet Moss would be on the border at best. On top of that, his age has to be an issue.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
I am not imagining things here. THE UEFA MANDATED RETIREMENT AGE IS 45. Those 3 are not allowed to Ref ANY European games. Manchester United’s Howard Webb retired at age 45 and looked a lot fitter than Dean, Moss and Atkinson.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Leeds game. And now Stuart Dallas gets hit by the ball, possibly on the head, and stays down in the box. The Ref stops the game!!! Are you watching Mike Dean and all of the pundits who defended you. I am not even sure it hit him on the head, but better safe than sorry, eh Mike?
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
So, that didnt take long. The very next game after Dean waved play on after a suspected head injury the exact same situation happened on 20 minutes with the opposite decision made i.e. Dean played on, the Ref here stopped the game.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Andre Mariner turns 51 on New Years Day and is Reffing the Leeds game. He wouldnt be allowed to Ref a European game either !!! Leeds look screwed. Down 2-0 on 30 mins and have a 15 year old on the bench.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Oh dear, Leeds have just taken another pasting!!. Do they sack Bielsa????
Sharpy17(Quote)
He only has 8 senior players available.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Eddie Gray’s Grand-Nephew Age 15 is on the Leeds bench.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
I was looking at Marriner and thought to myself, he looks old as well. Sure enough he is 51. So to reiterate:
Dean 53
Atkinson 51
Fat Boy Moss 51
Age UEFA Refs have to retire 45.
That is a disgrace that they are all still the leading Refs in the PL. They are just as bad at VAR as well so it is not just a fitness thing.
They are all younger than me, but I am not a professional Ref. They should retire and do Panto. Mike Dean would be good at that. Or become a Santa with Jon Moss not needing any padding.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
The Times are saying there will be a 2 week circuit breaker after Xmas. I assume this means possibly Boxing day at the latest. The Times have very good Govt connections so I think we can take this to the bank. That would mean Man U is off. There is an FA Cup weekend on the 9th I think so the earliest next PL game would be Jan 17th.
With everybody in virtual lockdown there is just no way they could play PL games, right. Makes the decision of Monday’s PL meeting pretty easy.
Again, if it all shuts down will they open up again if the numbers are getting worse. I highly doubt it, so probably the whole of January will be scratched.
There is no summer tournament so they can extend the season.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
The question now becomes how can the PL screw NUFC at the Jan transfer window? Maybe put it on hold until football resumes? Push it to Feb? Cancel it?
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Just read in The Mail that the PL want the Boxing Day fixtures to go ahead and will push for this in Monday’s meeting. If the rest of the country is in virtual lockdown I just dont see how this can work. But, you never know. They are now arguing about vaccinations saying there should be split squads for training, buses etc. How the hell will that work when they are on the same pitch when they play? Also, teams with high vax rates are shaming those with low. Thry didnt mention them by name, YET. Some clubs have much lower vax rates than the general population.
This is all from The Mail so who knows what is true. But it is, and will be, a complete mess.
I am just waiting for Klopp to refuse to play a low vax team. If the games are not called off that would really put the cat among the pigeons.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
I think all Premiership players should be fully vaccinated and it should be mandatory or they don’t play. Millions of people look up to them as role models and they earn more in a week than many do in a year. If they refuse, that’s their right, but they don’t play and they forfeit their salary
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I hope in todays game we can keep it below 5-0. We have surprised them in the past and we are capable on a good day… hoping today is a good day! The ref is sh.it again but with so much discussion around Scouser Dean hopefully Atkinson will try to keep it fair. ???
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Gilly – I had this conversation with my mate the other day. Any unvaccinated player who misses playing time due to COVID should not get paid for the days they miss.
They should be ineligible for any European games.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I see Chelsea has requested their game be called off today & the PL have said no. They have 5 out with COVID – what’s the threshold?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Chelsea asked for their game to be called off and were refused. They have 7 positive cases.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Tuchel is p!ssed off. He cant name a full bench and says he has to bring in players who are less than full fit – Kante and Chalobah.
I really think the PL will try to keep this going but it will not end well.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Hells bells look at the difference in those starting 11s man!!!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
We have Joe White and Elliot Anderson on the bench ?. And Kieran “let’s have a wrestle” Clark is back! ??
Gilly Toon(Quote)
As some others have said, the best thing about today might be seeing SJP without Sports Direct plastered all over the place.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Howe said Shelvey has a niggle and ASM is not fully fit and he needs everybody to be fully fit today.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Time to hide behind the sofa and peak out every 10 mins or so.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Not looking forward to this … ???
Gilly Toon(Quote)
HWTL
Try and keep it respectable score line lads
kimtoon(Quote)
so poor that
ffs
kimtoon(Quote)
Clark ye gods man wtaf
kimtoon(Quote)
F@cking joke!!!
Started from a corner coz Dubravka can’t pass a ball 10yds!!.
But then WTF was Clark doing man???. Why the F is he anywhere near our first team after making so many mistakes already this season????.
I’d rather Hayden was CB.
What can Howe really do with players who continually make such individual mistakes???
Sharpy17(Quote)
Good effort joe
kimtoon(Quote)
What a stupid goal. Clark being too clever. You just clear that you idiot.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
The more I see him in there the happier I am we have a new midfielder in Joelinton. What he adds to that midfield is so much more than our attack. Still think we need to strengthen the midfield but he should now be seen in that pool rather than our forwards.
He’s showing Willock & Hayden up today.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Cancelo. It was like the parting of the Red Sea by our 2 centre backs.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Couldn’t get a better example – they’ve just walked past Willock who done nowt more than stuck a leg out – no tracking back.
Then put Hayden on his backside before scoring.
Sharpy17(Quote)
VAR you are not fit for purpose
kimtoon(Quote)
Hayden just got a yellow card for the same challenge on KDB FFS!!!!
Sharpy17(Quote)
Don’t anyone tell me there is not an effort to get shot of us
VAR has to say it’s a pen
kimtoon(Quote)
I don’t understand this anymore????
Sharpy17(Quote)
That’s a penalty, he takes him out. The commentator here is saying it is not because Fraser wasnt near the ball. He doesnt need to be FFS. Edison took him out. If the ball was 50 yards away and Edison elbowed him it would be a penalty. I dont see the difference.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
I am looking at the moving billboards and they are our sponsors plus Kayak, Black & Decker, Carling and Astropay.
No sign of Flannels or House of Fraser so they really have got rid of all vestiges of Ashley from around the ground.
They must have been working on the new sponsors as well because I have never seen any of these before. Now Bet365 and Castrol and SkyCinema. I have never seen any of these before.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
????????????????????????
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Two clear penalties denied again! I’m incensed. Fuc.king fuming… a team like city does not need to have a ref on their team but clearly they do..
Gilly Toon(Quote)
We havent actually played badly and are down 2 nil. Should have had a penalty. Joelinton MotM so far.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Gilly, i’m not even angry anymore just really disappointed that this country with our football heritage cannot in 2021 produce any decent referees or fair system for checking errors . Is it sheer incompetence, I’m not sure, these guys know the rules they just ain’t applying them properly to us it seems.
kimtoon(Quote)
I’m incandescent with rage here. How can this be ok for a referee and VAR to totally ignore those penalties? The evidence of corruption is so clear… I don’t mind losing. I expected to lose. City are good enough to beat us fair and square. They don’t need to have the referee in their pocket too. That two games in a row. Well they are consistent. I’ll give them that. Consistent in their poor biased decisions against our team! ???
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I dont think these commentators know the rules of the game. As I said, the one here said it wasnt a pen because the ball was a yard away from Fraser. You can get sent off for an off-the-ball incident so why not a penalty? What is VAR for?
I know, it is to uphold wrong decisions for the opposition and ignore every infraction on us.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Joe is a revelation
kimtoon(Quote)
I’m disgusted that VAR was even needed for that penalty. How the ref has not seen that as a foul – and then VAR have not corrected him is just beyond me?!?!?!!
I thought it was a pen against Lpool, but accepted there was some debate whether TTA got the ball.
No debate today though – the keeper wipes him out getting nowhere near the ball – absolute disgrace!!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I don’t think it’s that Kim. The refs know exactly what they are doing and the FA are facilitating it.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Retire the lot of them:
Atkinson 51
Dean 53
Fat Boy Moss 51
Andre Marriner 51
They get to those ages and still dont know the rules or there is a conspiracy.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Joelinton is brilliant in midfield – outstanding so far.
Sharpy17(Quote)
That said our defence is not even championship level. League one at best. Shocking. Just shockingly bad. We gifted them two goals. For the second they just parted like the Red Sea.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Another sickening thing is the commentators defending clearly wrong decsions. They should be sacked as well.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
And agree on Joelinton… another very strong performance from him.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Perfect analysis on Cancelos goal – lovely strike but AWFUL defending.
Carra hit the nail on the head pre kick off. Forwards are mid table premier league – defenders are mid table championship.
Sharpy17(Quote)
We have pressed and been OK but you cant give City a 2 goal head start FFS.
Eric+Sykes(Quote)
Brilliant save by Dubravka but Clark out of position for Jesus to have a free header
Sharpy17(Quote)