Welcome to the Wolves v Newcastle preview.
Sunday, January 18, starting at 2 p.m.
Newcastle United turned their attention to the league this weekend after domestic cup ties against Bournemouth and Man City last week.
A trip to Molineux to find themselves at the bottom of the table, Wolves might look like the perfect opportunity to grab another three points.
However, Sunday’s opponents are unbeaten in their last three matches and will be looking for further points in their mission to avoid relegation.
Form
In the last six league games, the Toon have won three, drawn one and lost two, but the three wins have all come in the last three games. A 3-1 win away at Burnley was followed by home wins over Crystal Palace and Leeds. We also drew against Chelsea despite being 2-0 up and losing to both the Mackems and Man Utd. We have scored eleven goals and conceded eight in these matches. With the ten points won, we are in ninth place in the league after the matches on Saturday afternoon and if we win we can move into the top five in terms of goal difference.
Wolves have won one, drawn two and lost three of their last six games. Their win came against West Ham and they drew with Everton and Man Utd. They lost to Liverpool, Brentford and Arsenal. They scored seven goals and conceded eight. With the five points achieved, they are still at the bottom of the table, already fourteen points behind in safety.
Last time out
Newcastle hosted Man City in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final and almost made a dream start when Wissa was put through after just three minutes. Unfortunately, our number nine opted to tap rather than put his foot through the ball, ultimately doing his best. The Toon remained confident and had opportunities to take the lead early in the second half when Wissa’s header was knocked off the line by Man City’s keeper and Bruno’s successor hit the foot of the post. Just when it looked like United would score the crucial first goal of the match, Man City went to the other end and scored the opener, only to have another goal disallowed shortly afterwards. Newcastle tried in vain to equalize but were caught in stoppage time on the break, making it a monumental task to reach the final for the third time in four seasons.
Wolves had a day to remember in the FA Cup last weekend when they hosted Second Division Shrewsbury. With two goals in the first eleven minutes they were firmly in control and despite conceding a penalty they went into half time 3-1. In a comfortable second half, Wolves further scored, who eventually won 6-1.
State attack!
-Newcastle have lost just one Premier League match at Wolves.
– The Toon have never managed to find the net at Wolves in the Premier League.
-NUFC have drawn seven Premier League matches against Wolves and six of them were 1-1.
Memorable match
In 2011, Alan Pardew’s Newcastle traveled to Wolves after recording three wins and three draws in their first six league matches. New signing Demba Ba had opened his account the previous match with a hat-trick in a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers and it took him just seventeen minutes to add to his tally with a bullet header from a corner that sent the away fans wild. Things would get even better for the traveling Toon Army before half-time as Gutierrez slalomed through three defenders and buried an effort into the bottom corner, so 2-0 at half-time and job done then? Any seasoned viewer of the Toon knows that things are never that simple. A relatively comfortable second half came to life in the final five minutes as Wolves pulled one back, hit the post, had a goal disallowed and strong penalties turned down in an absolutely frantic end to the match, with United fortunate to escape with all three points. Wolves 1-2 Newcastle.
Played for both
Darren Peacock was signed by Kevin Keegan for NUFC in 1994 and quickly became an integral part of the entertainer era. He played over a hundred games for the Toon and was never afraid to put in the hard work as more illustrious colleagues bombed forward. He is fondly remembered for opening the scoring with a header in our famous 5-0 win over Man United in 1996. He is still an active speaker and takes part in various talk-ins and is always very pro-NUFC when discussing his time on Tyneside.
He made four appearances for Wolves during a spell on loan from Blackburn in 2000, but unfortunately suffered a spinal injury against Fulham, making him extremely lucky not to be paralyzed, leading to his retirement.
Sebastien Bassong Spent just one season at NUFC, our disastrous relegation campaign of 08/09. He was voted player of the season and the phrase ‘Damning with faint praise’ had never been more appropriate, he didn’t have much competition for that award! Costly red cards against Wigan and Fulham in narrow defeats were less than ideal and his immediate desire to leave after relegation could hardly find favor with Toon fans. He signed for Spurs before joining Wolves on loan as his career began to nosedive. When we finished fifth in the league, he was at the very bottom of the table. Needless to say, sympathy was in very short supply on Tyneside.
Mike Williamson signed for NUFC in 2009. Despite not being the most glamorous signing, he quickly won fans with some committed performances. He spent six years on Tyneside and was named player of the season in 13/14 (under rather happier circumstances than Bassong). Toon fans even had a chant urging the England manager to take him to that summer’s World Cup. He scored just one league goal for the Toon and probably thought he had won the game when he put us 3-2 against Crystal Palace in the final minute, but was cruelly robbed of his moment of glory due to an equalizer in the ninety-fifth minute. He briefly played for Wolves after NUFC and played only a handful of loan spells before a permanent move was also hampered by persistent injuries. He remained popular on Tyneside after his departure, returning to the region two years later to play for and then manage Gateshead.
Managers
Eddie Howe after a 2-0 defeat at home to Man City:
“We’re still alive and we’re still fighting. Last year we won with this score at Arsenal and we felt the draw was still alive. If we can get the next goal, we’re still very much involved. All I can look at is the effort level of the players, and I think, given Saturday’s effort against Bournemouth, that was a great effort from the boys against the worst team that could expose that fatigue. It’s a blow to the body, but not at the moment fatal. We are still fighting. I think maybe a bit of naivety with a minute to go, that we are still trying to chase a goal. At that point we had to defend after getting our structure wrong from that position, and I think the boys gave everything today after extra time on Saturday.
Rob Edwards after a 6-1 FA Cup win over Shrewsbury:
“It was a good performance. Very professional, but also good quality. I thought we looked good as a team, but there were also a lot of good performances. Overall, a very good day. Nice for the supporters to see and celebrate some goals. What could have been a very difficult day turned out to be a very nice day.”
Good cause
As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be gathering across the Gallowgate in front of the food bank. However, you can still help and all online cash donations are greatly appreciated. For more information and/or to donate to the food bank online.
Prediction
Newcastle have had a hectic schedule of late and Wolves have experienced an improvement in recent results. Therefore, I think this will be a much closer match than the rankings suggest. Nevertheless, I have been impressed with the Toon lately and am keen for another win as we look to add some consistency to our league form. Wolves 1-2 Newcastle.
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