Today, Newcastle will embark on what is effectively a mini road trip, playing three games away from home in the space of just nine days. First up on the itinerary? Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux in the 4.30pm kick-off live on Sky Sports.
From key players on both sides to the ongoing off-the-pitch distractions that United must shut out, here are our three things to watch out for when Newcastle face Wolves this weekend.
Recent encounters
Six of the last ten fixtures between Newcastle and their Black Country counterparts have ended in a draw, including the 2-2 stalemate at Molineux last season. In that fixture, the two sides traded the lead with Callum Wilson netting twice before a late goal from Hwang Hee-Chan ensured the points would be shared in Wolverhampton. Draws have been a theme, with five of our last six trips to Wolves ending all square.
Later in the season, however, United put three past Wolves at St James’ Park, despite maintaining only 45% possession in the match. Goals from Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Tino Livramento put the result beyond all doubt.
It is worth noting that Newcastle have not lost to Wolves once in their last five meetings. You would have to go back to October 2021 when the Midlanders were last victorious over the Magpies, winning 2-1 in what was to be one of the final games before the takeover.
Who are Wolves’ key players?
Wolves’ main new man up front, Norwegian Jørgen Strand Larsen, has already hit the mark early in his Premier League career, scoring against Chelsea in Wanderers’ 6-2 defeat to the Londoners. At 24 years old, he is a young striker with a lot of promise, and will likely become Wolves’ primary option at the top end of the pitch. Along with fellow attackers, Brazilian Matheus Cunha and Korean Hwang Hee-Chan, they could cause a lot of defences trouble, despite the loss of Pedro Neto.
Leave the noise OFF the pitch
Over the last few weeks, life at Newcastle has been dominated by noise of reported inner conflict between Eddie Howe and sporting director Paul Mitchell. Regardless, the players on the pitch still have an important job to do, and should not be sucked in by all the off-the-pitch bickering.
We have Fabian Schar back from a ban, Sandro Tonali available for our first league away day, Harvey Barnes finding some form and Anthony Gordon and Alexander Isak returning from impressive international breaks.
This is an opportunity to stretch the club’s unbeaten start to four games and make it 10 points from a possible 12 this season.
Howay United. Let’s start this road trip off on a positive note.
3 points here for the taking, Wolves are in serious decline. We could either continue playing poorly yet snatch a win, or finally click and marmalise them.
davewallace(Quote)
Let me get this right.
You want us to watch out for a load of worthless stats about previous games, and leaving the noise off the pitch?
Daveys **** mate(Quote)