Newcastle set to pile the pressure on Chris Hughton
Article by Newcastle Correspondent Adam VassFollow e-Newcastle on Twitter here!
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Newcastle travel to Carrow Road on Tuesday evening for a clash with Norwich full of confidence. Last time out both teams enjoyed their first wins of the year with Norwich beating Relegation rival hull 1-0 and Newcastle beating West Ham 3-1. The Canaries win sees them pull 4 points clear from the bottom three and should also boost their confidence going into their next few games.
In this fixture last season it was one of the most boring games I have had to watch with only 2 shots on target a piece and no goals scored leaving both sets of fans disappointed and some asleep. Newcastle have scored 32 goals in 22 premier league games which is almost twice that of Norwich, but both teams are quite similar defensively with the magpies conceding 28 and the canneries 35.
Team News
Mathieu Debuchy returns from his 3 match ban following an unnecessary two footed challenge. Collocini remains side-lined for a minimum of 4 games leaving Pardew to choose between Steven Taylor and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa to replace him.
The difficult decision of whether Ben Arfa should start is one the manager will be asking himself as his lack of defensive ability has kept him on the bench for the last couple of months, but this game should be much more open for Ben Arfa and allow him to push further forward.
I would expect Pardew to go for it in this fixture and return to the 4-3-3 formation that he has found success in the past with.
The Opposition
Norwich midfielder Anthony Pilkington made his return from injury as a substitute for the on loan Newcastle winger Jonas Gutierrez at their victory over Hull, although Swansea are rumoured to have made a bid for Pilkington so he may be held back if a transfer were to happen. Gutierrez will be ineligible to play against Newcastle due to his loan from the visitors.
Robert Snodgrass is one of Norwich’s most creative assets and set up the vital 87th minute winner in their last outing. If we can keep Snodgrass and Fer quiet then we will have a greater chance going forward.
Chris Hughton’s men will be looking to add to their win over Hull but another loss will add a lot of pressure onto the former Magpies boss as the Norwich board will no doubt be keeping a close eye on him.
I predict a Toon win but more than likely it will come with a typical Newcastle nervy second half. Feel free to share your predictions in the comments below.
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It's only a matter of time before Newcastle blow up. About time expectations were lowered for once so when the inevitable happens the Geordie fans aren't so oddly upset. Would have thought them and shun-derland would have learnt the north east self delusion NEVER comes to fruition. As bad as each other...ouch.
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