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      MATCH PREVIEW

NEWCASTLE UNITED v WEST BROMWICH ALBION
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 28th October 2012, 3pm
St James' Park

MATCH NOTES

Albion were one of just three teams to win at St James’ Park last season, the other teams being Manchester City and Chelsea.

The twelve Premier League games between the two clubs have seen 44 goals scored, an average of 3.66 goals a game.

Baggies' midfielder James Morrison will reach the landmark of 100 Premier League appearances for the club if he figures in the game. He will become only the fourth player to reach the milestone, the others being Neil Clement, Jonathan Greening and Chris Brunt.

Albion have kept just two clean sheets against United in the last 25 matches between the clubs.

United have won just one of their last seven league games whilst Albion have won only one of their last nine away league games.

Albion have accumulated 14 points from their first eight league games - their best total at this stage of a top-flight season since 1982-83 when they also had 14.

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Albion will check on the fitness of midfielder Claudio Yacob after the Argentinian international suffered a hamstring injury during last weekend's home defeat against Manchester City.

Skipper Chris Brunt (hamstring) and right-back Billy Jones (knee) have both resumed training and could be in contention for a place in the squad. Winger Jerome Thomas has also returned to training following a knee operation and illness but will probably not be considered for the game.

Boaz Myhill (thumb) and Steven Reid (hamstring) are both still unavailable.

Squad from: Foster, Myhill, Daniels, Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Tamas, Dawson, Jara Reyes, Popov, Ridgewell, Mulumbu, Yacob, Brunt, Dorrans, Morrison, El Ghanassy, Gera, Fortune, Odemwingie, Lukaku, Long, Rosenberg.

Newcastle United

Midfielder Cheick Tiote will miss the game as he starts a three-match ban following his sending off during the first half of last weekend's 1-1 derby draw at Sunderland.

United will also be without the injured quartet of goalkeeper Rob Elliot (groin), defender Ryan Taylor (knee) and midfielders Haris Vuckic (knee) and Dan Gosling (ankle).

Squad from: Krul, Harper, Simpson, Tavernier, Ferguson, S. Taylor, Perch, Williamson, Santon, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Ben Arfa, Anita, Bigirimana, Marveaux, Obertan, Vuckic, Abeid, Amalfitano, Sammy Ameobi, Ba, Cisse, Shola Ameobi, Campbell.

QUOTES

Baggies' boss Steve Clarke:

"I think Newcastle is a blueprint for any club with ambition. Every club wants to be successful and, if you are, is it the right thing to go out and sign 20 players and double the size of your squad or do you try to nurture what you've got and bring through some young ones? That's what Newcastle have done and they've done it with a good balanced squad and without being crazy in the transfer market. That's a good blueprint for a number of clubs who might be in that position in the future.

"I'm sure they can challenge towards the top half of the league. The fact that they have the Europa League to contend with as well is an issue. They have done a great job to get in the position they're at in the Europa League, where they've managed to almost qualify from the group. If they could win their next game they would be comfortable.

"To balance the two competitions (Premier League and Europa League) must have been a bit of a challenge for Alan Pardew and his staff and I think they have done it well."

United striker Shola Ameobi:

"They took points from us last season, so we are very aware of that. They have got some talented players and they have started off fantastically well this year, so it's a tough game for us. But we are at home and we know that this place has to be a fortress for us, has to be a place where we pick up points if we are going to do what we did last year.

"This place was somewhere that teams found it hard to pick up points, so we have to make it that way, starting on Sunday. Obviously our last home game wasn't the best, so there's a statement that has to be made there by us to show the fans that we are really back on track."

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MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 3/1, Newcastle United Win: 10/11, Draw: 12/5.

First Goalscorer

Ba 4/1, Cisse 11/2, Shola Ameobi 6/1, Campbell 7/1, Long 7/1, Ben Arfa 8/1, Lukaku 8/1, Odemwingie 8/1, Sammy Ameobi 10/1, Cabaye 10/1, Fortune 10/1, Rosenberg 10/1, Dorrans 12/1, Morrison 12/1, Amalfitano 14/1, Marveaux 14/1, Brunt 14/1, Gera 14/1, Thomas 14/1.

REFEREE

Chris Foy (Merseyside) - Has already taken charge of one Albion game this season, the 1-0 victory against Reading at The Hawthorns last month. The Merseyside official refereed three Albion games last season, all at The Hawthorns - The 2-0 win against Wolves in October, the 4-0 win against Sunderland in February, and the 3-1 defeat against Newcastle United in March.

TICKET INFORMATION

Albion were allocated 1,600 tickets for the game. Fans without tickets are advised not to travel to the game because no tickets will be available at the stadium on matchday.

WEATHER FORECAST

Cloudy with a 20% chance of rain, 8°C

FIXTURE HISTORY

The first ever meeting of the two sides was a friendly game at St James' Park in April 1893 which saw United run out comfortable 7-2  winners.

Albion first met Newcastle in league action during the 1898/99 season. The first game between the two sides, at St James' Park in December, ended in a 3-0 win for United. Andy Aitken, Jock Peddie and Joe Rogers scored the hosts' goals. The return game at Stoney Lane in April saw the Baggies gain revenge with a 2-0 victory, Arthur Smith and Billy Bassett the Albion goalscorers in front of a crowd of just 2,304.

Albion's biggest league win against United is 7-3, at St James' Park in September 1953. Johnny Nicholls led the visitors' scoring with a hat-trick. Ronnie Allen (2), Frank Griffin and Reg Ryan scored the other Albion goals. The performance by Vic Buckingham's men earned applause from all supporters present at the game. Another big win for Albion was a 6-0 mauling of United at The Hawthorns in September 1960, a game which saw Alec Jackson hit a hat-trick. The Baggies have also twice recorded a 6-1 victory against United at The Hawthorns, first in September 1902 and then in May 1967, Tony Brown hitting three goals in the latter game.

Albion's heaviest league defeat against United is 5-1, a scoreline which has occurred four times - three on Tyneside: November 1931, September 1938 and November 1949. The other victory came at The Hawthorns in November 1989. The 1938 meeting saw Billy Cairns net four of the United goals.

After going seventeen league games without a win against United, Albion have now won two of the last four meetings.


LAST LEAGUE MEETING AT ST JAMES' PARK

Newcastle United 2-3 Albion
Barclays Premier League
Wednesday 21st December 2011, 7:45pm

Albion: Foster, Reid (Jones 6), McAuley, Olsson, Shorey, Thomas (Dorrans 68), Mulumbu (Thorne 76), Scharner, Brunt, Odemwingie, Long. Subs not used: Fulop, Dawson, Cox, Fortune.

Goalscorers: Odemwingie 20, McAuley 44, Scharner 85.

Newcastle United: Krul, Simpson, Perch, Coloccini, Santon (Ryan Taylor 46), Obertan (Shola Ameobi 72), Vuckic, Tiote, Gutierrez, Best (Ben Arfa 61), Ba. Subs not used: Elliot, Williamson, Abeid, Sammy Ameobi.

Goalscorer: Ba 34, 81

Booked: Coloccini 89 (foul)

Attendance: 51,060

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)

Paul Scharner extended Newcastle's winless Premier League run to six games as West Brom won on the road for the second time in five days.

The Austria international snatched victory five minutes from time as a five-goal thriller went the way of the visitors. Roy Hodgson's men took the lead on three occasions as Peter Odemwingie and Gareth McAuley with his first goal for the club struck before the break. However, on both occasions, Demba Ba dragged Newcastle back into it, firstly with a fiercely-struck free-kick and then with a close-range 81st-minute finish. However, the Baggies refused to accept a point and Scharner made the most of a poor defensive display to claim a victory that leaves the Magpies with just two points from the past 18 they have contested.

Games between the two sides over the past two seasons have been close with three of their past four league encounters in the Championship and Premier League ending all square. The last of them came on the final day of last season when the Baggies fought their way back from a 3-0 half-time deficit to claim a point which cost the Magpies a top-10 finish. But if Alan Pardew's side were forewarned, they failed to take heed and found themselves training at the break after an eventful first 45 minutes. They fell behind with 20 minutes gone when attack turned to desperate defence within seconds. Cheick Tiote's pass was cut out by Nicky Shorey, who fed the hugely impressive Chris Brunt and watched as he produced a superb defence-splitting pass to put Odemwingie in behind Fabricio Coloccini. The striker controlled deftly before firing confidently past keeper Tim Krul off the foot of the post to silence the home fans among a crowd of 51,060. Ba thought he had levelled within two minutes when he drilled home from Leon Best's knock-down, but an offside flag ruined his celebrations. But in the event, West Brom's lead lasted just 14 minutes and was cancelled out in equally spectacular style. Gabriel Obertan embarked on a rare foray in-field from the right wing and went down under Jerome Thomas' clumsy challenge 20 yards out. Ba stepped up to take charge of the resulting free-kick and there was an inevitability about what would follow as he curled the ball high to Ben Foster's left with the keeper unable to deny the Senegal international despite getting a hand to the ball. Newcastle, who had wobbled alarmingly in the wake of Odemwingie's strike, attempted to capitalise on their equaliser, but they were caught again with a minute of the half remaining. Brunt, who proved a threat throughout, floated a free-kick to the far post, where Scharner was allowed to helped it back across goal for McAuley to score from close range. Midfielder Haris Vuckic, starting his first Premier League game, thumped an injury-time drive against the bar with Foster beaten, and the visitors survived to go in ahead at the break.

Ryan Taylor replaced young Italian left-back Davide Santon before the restart, and his side resumed with a flurry. Obertan saw an early effort deflected wide by McAuley, and Ba curled a 49th-minute shot past the far post after cutting inside from the left. However, the game might have been over four minutes later when Youssouf Mulumbu once again carved Newcastle open to put Shane Long in on goal. The Republic of Ireland international seemed certain to score as he rounded Krul with ease, but his shot from a tight angle came back off the crossbar to let the home side off the hook. Foster got down well to claim Best's curling 54th-minute effort, and the striker's evening ended seven minutes later when he was replaced by Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa. Shola Ameobi soon followed as Obertan, who had volleyed over seconds earlier, made way, but Brunt caused concern for Krul when he curled just wide from distance with 73 minutes played. But after Krul had saved from Long, it was Ba who dragged the Magpies back into the game, converting Ben Arfa's 81st-minute pass with relish. Vuckic might have won it with a dipping long-range effort which Foster had to turn over, but the Magpies were caught once again at the death when Scharner stabbed the ball past the helpless Krul from Odemwingie's header.

Sporting Life

CURRENT CONNECTIONS

From 1998-99, Baggies boss' Steve Clarke was assistant manager at St James' Park during Ruud Gullit's short-lived reign at the club. Following the departure of Gullit, Clarke was named caretaker manager but took charge of just one game, a 5-1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

PAST CONNECTIONS

Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for both clubs are: Stan Allan, John Anderson, Harry Brown, Franz Carr, Eddie Connelly, Wayne Fereday, Ruel Fox, Andy Hunt, Tom Hutchinson, Dennis Martin, Mick Martin, David Mills, Bob Pailor, George Reilly, Dick Roberts, Mark Robinson, Colin Suggett, John Trewick, Imre Varadi, Steve Watson and Kenny Wharton.

Ossie Ardiles managed both clubs during the 1990s; Former Albion boss Gary Megson played for United during the mid 1980s; Bobby Robson played for Albion and managed Newcastle; Former Baggies' boss Keith Burkinshaw had earlier been on the coaching staff at United; Jesse Carver, who managed Albion in 1952, had played for United during the 1930s; Albion hard-man of the 1950s Maurice Setters was later United Chief Scout; Ex-Newcastle goalkeeper Eric Steele was later a coach at The Hawthorns.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS NEWCASTLE UNITED

 VENUE P W D  L F A
 Home 61 29 18 14 119 81
 Away 59 17 13 29 85 122
 Total 120 46 31 43 204 203

LAST TEN MATCHES AGAINST NEWCASTLE UNITED

DATE COMPETITION H/A F-A GOALSCORERS  GATE
Sun 25 Mar 2012 Premier League H 1-3 Long - Cisse 2, Ben Arfa  25,049
Wed 21 Dec 2011 Premier League A 3-2 Odemwingie, McAuley, Scharner - Ba 2  51,060
Sun 22 May 2011 Premier League A 3-3 Tchoyi 3 - S Taylor, Lovenkrands, Olsson (og)  51,678
Sun 05 Dec 2010 Premier League H 3-1 Tchoyi, Odemwingie 2 - Lovenkrands  23,486
Sat 23 Jan 2010 FA Cup H 4-2 Olsson, Dorrans 2 (2 pens), Thomas - Carroll 2  16,102
Mon 18 Jan 2010 Championship A 2-2 Olsson, Bednar - Guthrie, Lovenkrands  39,291
Sat 08 Aug 2009 Championship H 1-1 Martis - Duff  23,502
Sat 07 Feb 2009 Premier League H 2-3 Fortune 2 - Duff, Lovenkrands, Taylor  25,817
Tue 28 Oct 2008 Premier League A 1-2 Miller - Barton (pen), Martins  45,801
Sat 22 Apr 2006 Premier League A 0-3 Solano, Ameobi 2 (1 pen)  52,272

 

 
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