Match Preview – Newcastle United vs Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday
18th August 2012, 5-30pm
Preview
A match up between two of last season’s
contenders for the Champions League places promises to provide an entertaining
start to the Barclays Premiership season of 2012/13. This exact fixture last
year at in the North East produced an enthralling draw, with Shola Ameobi
netting the Toon’s equalizer. However, despite the two teams being evenly
matched for most of last season, there has been a great deal of change for the
North London club, starting with their new manager being Andre Villas Boas.
Villas Boas has faced Newcastle once before, winning 3-0 at St James’ Park with
his Chelsea side last season, but having been a failure by and large for the
Blues it will be interesting to see how he gets on this season. Both these
sides will be aiming to finish in and around the top four again, but it’s going
to be a tough ask with any of last year’s top eight all aiming for a European
place.
Team
News
Newcastle have some mounting injury
problems as the season draws nearer, something which will worry them due to their
fixture congestion in the early week’s of the campaign. Papiss Cisse
(hamstring), Demba Ba (shin), Yohan Cabaye (fitness) and Hatem Ben Arfa (knee)
all missed their last friendly, a 4-1 defeat to Cardiff, and captain Fabricio
Coloccini was forced off during that clash. Highly rated midfielder Tiote also
didn’t complete the game, complaining of a calf strain. However, none of the
players have been definitely ruled out and therefore Newcastle fans can be
hopeful of seeing some of them, if not all, involved in some respect during
this game. Aside from those front-line stars, this season can see the return of
Steven Taylor for Newcastle, who missed a large proportion of last season
through injury. This selection dilemma facing Alan Pardew could mean starting briefs
for Ameobi, and maybe some younger players such as Romain Amalfitano or Haris
Vuckic. In terms of Tottenham’s preparation, they are suffering a striker
shortage of their own kind, with Adebayor not returning on loan or permanently
(yet) and Jermaine Defoe looking like one of their only options upfront. It’s
been a Summer of rumours for Spurs in truth, linked with numerous players. They
have secured the signings of Jan Vertonghen and Gylfi Sigurdsson, who will
surely play some part in this opener, with Scott Parker ruled out with a
persistent Achilles issue.
Key
Battles
Danny
Simpson vs Gareth Bale
Having pulled out of the Olympics, Welshman
Bale has had a flying pre-season despite picking up a slight knock in a spat
with Charlie Adam. Expect him to start down the left hand side here, and
provide a stern test for Danny Simpson. If Simpson can force Bale back into his
own half, and get help from Newcastle’s wide midfielder, Tottenham will have
one of their main threats limited. Perhaps Pardew will opt for Jonas on the
right merely to help counter this threat.
Sigurdsson
vs Tiote
If the Ivorian does start, and likewise
Sigurdsson is named in the Spurs staring XI, this is going to be a huge battle.
Having struck several spectacular goals for Swansea last season, the Icelandic
international will have to be shackled at any possible opportunity, a job
tailor-made for hard man Tiote. If he’s out injured with a calf problem,
Newcastle might struggle to replace him and this could be costly.
Walker
vs Santon
Two attacking full backs on display down
the same side means something will have to give, and if Walker leaves space
down the right flank Newcastle could capitalize. Likewise, Santon will have to
be very alert to prevent Walker offering an overlap in number, as this would be
dangerous.
Prediction
Newcastle 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur
HA
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