The Big Preview: Newcastle vs. Norwich

Article by Newcastle Correspondent Sophie Hedley

A third League win in a row for Newcastle against Chris Hughton’s Norwich City would be their first in two years.

Newcastle, in high spirits after back-to-back wins over Tottenham and Chelsea, go into the game as favourites, a tag which has not done them any favours this season.

Norwich could also be feeling slightly more confident after picking up their third win of a tough season, which has seen them concede 25 goals, last time out against West Ham.

The Magpies have no new injury concerns, with defenders Fabricio Coloccini, Steven Taylor and Paul Dummett all expected to return from injury.

However, their back four of Mathieu Debuchy, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Mike Williamson and Davide Santon, who along with Tim Krul performed so valiantly in their last two fixtures, will no longer remain unchanged as Debuchy serves a one-game suspension following a yellow card picked up in the victory against Spurs.

This could make way for the return of skipper Coloccini, with either Yanga-Mbiwa or Santon replacing Debuchy at right-back.

Jonas Gutierrez could also return to the squad having been back at home in Argentina for the past few weeks with personal problems.

Newcastle could drop striker Shola Ameobi, who has played ineffectively in the last two games.

However, manager Alan Pardew may be reluctant to change his in-form side and could see Hatem Ben Arfa and/or Papiss Cisse used from off the bench.

Norwich City will still be missing their record signing forward Ricky van Wolfswinkel due to a toe injury.

They are likely to see the return of winger Anthony Pilkington, however, who has been struggling with a hamstring injury, causing him to miss out on international duty for Republic of Ireland.

Goalkeeper Mark Bunn will miss out following an operation on his ankle, and midfielders Elliot Bennett and Alexander Tettey both remain absent with long term injuries.

Alan Pardew is hoping Newcastle can make a return to the consistency they showed two seasons ago. He told their official website:

“Norwich is the most important game for us.

"We've got ourselves in a poised position - now we need to capitalise on that, something we've not done well in the last 18 months.

"Going back two years, we were capitalising on these positions.

"If we win we can put ourselves right in the mix. For us, it's a great opportunity and we don't want to pass on those opportunities. They don't come around very often in the Premier League.”

My Thoughts:

I have to say it: This won’t be an easy game for Newcastle.

As much as it feels ridiculous to say it, having had two great wins against Spurs and Chelsea, it’s true, because once Newcastle are aware they’re favourites, they tend to crumble.

Favourites was the tag used when Hull travelled to St. James Park back in September, after we’d had two good victories over Aston Villa and Fulham. It was definitely used ten minutes into the game when Loic Remy put us 1-0 up. But then we collapsed.

Personally, I think we did so well against Chelsea and Spurs because we weren’t expected to win and so the players wanted to work for each other and prove that they could. 

What I would like to see is for the players to work hard and show why they’re favourites against the less attractive sides ie. Norwich, and pick up three points without making it hard for themselves.

Therefore, since I’m in a good mood after our last two results, I’m going to make a (confident) prediction for Newcastle which would see us pick up our sixth win of the season.

Predicted Newcastle Line-up:

Krul; Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Williamson, Santon; Cabaye, Tiote, Sissoko; Gouffran, Shola Ameobi, Remy

Score Prediction:

Newcastle 3-1 Norwich.

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