WEST BROMWICH ALBION v NEWCASTLE UNITED
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 20th April 2013, 3pm
The Hawthorns

MATCH NOTES

A victory for Albion would see them set a new club record for most wins (14) during a Premier League season. The club's previous high of 13 was set in 2011/12.

Albion's last game on this date came in 2005, Zoltan Gera grabbing the Baggies a point against Spurs in a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane. Albion have won just one of the last ten games they have played on April 20, a 2-1 win against Sunderland at The Hawthorns in 1981.

United's last game on this date came two years ago when they played out a goalless draw at home to Manchester United.

Chris Brunt will make his 200th league appearance for Albion if he plays a part in the game.

Baggies' striker Romelu Lukaku needs two goals to equal Peter Odemwingie's club record of 15 Premier League goals in a season.

Albion's last six games: Arsenal (H) 1-2; West Ham United (A) 1-3; Stoke City (A) 0-0; Swansea City (H) 2-1; Chelsea (A) 0-1; Sunderland (H) 2-1.

United's last six games: Sunderland (H) 0-3; Benfica (H, UEFA) 1-1; Fulham (H) 1-0; Benfica (A, UEFA) 1-3; Manchester City (A) 0-4; Wigan Athletic (A) 1-2.

TEAM NEWS

Albion

Want-away striker Peter Odemwingie misses the game due to a 'knee injury' whilst Baggies' boss Steve Clarke will also be without midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu who serves the second game of his three match suspension.

Young midfielder Izzy Brown will also miss out due to a groin strain.

Zoltan Gera and George Thorne both remain out with long-term injuries.

Squad from: Foster, Myhill, Jones, Reid, Ridgewell, McAuley, Olsson, Thomas, Lukaku, Morrison, Brunt, Dorrans, Rosenberg, Yacob, Long, Fortune, Popov, Tamas.

Newcastle United

Newcastle will be without midfielders Cheick Tiote (hamstring) and Sylvain Marveaux (groin), goalkeeper Tim Krul (dislocated shoulder) and defender Ryan Taylor (cruciate ligament).

Captain Fabricio Coloccini (back) has returned to training, but the game comes too soon for him.

Squad from: Elliot, Harper, Debuchy, Simpson, S. Taylor, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa, Perch, Bigirimana, Cabaye, Anita, Gutierrez, Ben Arfa, Gosling, Obertan, Sissoko, Cisse, Gouffran, Ameobi, Campbell.

QUOTES

Baggies' boss Steve Clarke:

“I’ve honestly not enjoyed the break. We’ve played two games in 34 days which, at this time of the season, is something that takes a lot of getting used to. There has been too much spare time. I’ve mentioned before we’ve struggled to find a little bit of rhythm during the second half of the season and that doesn’t help us - and on the back of two defeats as well.  The training this week has been quite good, quite intense, the players are a bit tetchy and I think they are looking forward to the game.

“It’s been a big break at a strange time. Normally at this stage you’re playing game and game and game, and you get into a good rhythm. We haven’t managed to do that yet but we have six games now in the last 30 days and we’ll look forward to them. I’m really mindful the season is not over yet and the players are as well because there has been a little edge to the training this week, which has been good for me to see. The players are desperate to put the two defeats they’ve just had out the way and get back to picking up more points for the club. Hopefully Newcastle will feel that. Newcastle should be wound up as well after a bad reverse last week in the derby game so it should be an interesting fixture.

“There are a lot of games that have been played until now and in some months of the season you play game and game and game and you’re struggling physically. We’re probably the opposite now where we are a little bit too fresh and too eager. It’s important we calm ourselves down and shape up the team properly at the weekend. We should be fresh, full of enthusiasm and there is a little bit of a feeling we’ve waited too long to put right a couple of defeats we’ve had. We’ve got a few things we want to get off our chests and a need to calm down a few frustrations. We’ve felt, although we’ve only played two games in a month, the West Ham game was disappointing and the Arsenal game was disappointing for a different reason because we felt we put enough into that game
to get something out of it. We didn’t and we’ll look to put that right at the weekend.”

www.wba.co.uk

United boss Alan Pardew:

"We've worked hard on the team this week and are looking forward to Saturday. We've had a little bit of time to work with the team and for them to be fresh, and they've been so different in training.

"The players know they carry the responsibility of this Club in the last five games to get some good results. The target for us at this moment is just to get 40 points as quickly as possible, and that will be the same for any team in the bottom half of the table. If you get a couple of wins then you can start to look at the top ten because it is that tight, but as we speak today we just need to secure some points.

"Steve Clarke has done a great job there in his first year as a manager. He was at our game (against Sunderland) so I'm sure he will be thinking they've got a great chance.

"We need to give a much better, improved showing, and hopefully we will do that."

www.nufc.co.uk

MATCH ODDS

Result

Albion Win: 6/5, Newcastle United Win: 11/5, Draw: 12/5.

First Goalscorer

Lukaku 5/1, Cisse 6/1, Long 6/1, Ben Arfa 8/1, Ameobi 8/1, Fortune 9/1, Rosenberg 9/1, Gouffran 9/1, Campbell 10/1, Morrison 10/1, Dorrans 11/1, Sissoko 11/1, Brunt 12/1, Cabaye 12/1, Thomas 14/1, Obertan 16/1.

REFEREE

Mike Jones (Cheshire) - Jones has took charge of two Albion games this season, the 3-2 home win over QPR in October and the 2-0 away defeat to Arsenal in December. The Cheshire official has dished out 83 yellow cards and three red in 29 games this season.

TICKET INFORMATION

There are a limited number of tickets available for home fans. The Smethwick End and East Stand are both sold out.

WEATHER FORECAST

Partly cloudy but dry, 12°C

FIXTURE HISTORY

LAST MEETING AT THE HAWTHORNS

Albion 1-3 Newcastle United
Barclays Premier League
Sunday 25th March 2012, 4pm

Albion: Foster, Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell, Morrison, Andrews (Long 46), Mulumbu (Scharner 73), Thomas (Brunt 46), Odemwingie, Fortune. Subs Not Used: Daniels, Shorey, Dawson, Cox.

Goalscorer: Long (52)

Newcastle United: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini (Santon 46), Perch, Ben Arfa (Shola Ameobi 75), Guthrie, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Cisse (Ferguson 79), Ba. Subs Not Used: Elliot, Abeid, Gosling, Vuckic.

Goalscorers: Cisse (6 & 34), Ben Arfa (12)

Booked: Williamson 69 (foul)

Attendance: 25,049

Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)

Newcastle stepped up their claims for a European spot after an inspired first-half display from Hatem Ben Arfa helped seal victory over West Brom at the Hawthorns. Ben Arfa scored once himself and set up two more goals for Papiss Cisse during an opening 45 minutes dominated by Alan Pardew's side. Albion could only manage a solitary second-half reply from substitute Shane Long as Newcastle moved level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea and gained revenge for the 3-2 home defeat to Albion earlier in the season. The Magpies have also opened up an eight-point gap over seventh-placed Liverpool, but suffered a worrying moment 10 minutes from time when Cisse was carried off on a stretcher with an apparent leg injury.

Newcastle dominated the first half and gave the home side a lesson in expert counter-attacking and clinical finishing. Ben Arfa caused constant problems with his runs and probing passes, while Cisse has now netted five times in six games for his new club. Albion seldom fired on all cylinders and looked like a side already virtually assured of Premier League survival. They improved after the break but have collected just one point from their last three games. Newcastle were soon into their stride and Demba Ba forced Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster to turn his downward volley over the bar before Cisse put them ahead after six minutes. Ben Arfa supplied the telling low ball across the six-yard box and Cisse was left with a simple task to sidefoot home. Newcastle were seeing plenty of the ball and Ben Arfa doubled their lead after 12 minutes in a lightning counter-attack. Cisse supplied the telling pass but Ben Arfa still had plenty of work to do as he cut in from the left and beat the dive of Foster with a fierce drive into the far corner. Albion tried to retaliate and James Morrison drilled a half volley wide after being teed up by Keith Andrews. Marc-Antoine Fortune threatened for the first time when he met a cross from Liam Ridgewell but his header was a couple of yards wide of the mark. Peter Odemwingie had the ball in the net after 32 minutes but Fortune had strayed marginally offside. Then two minutes later Cisse struck again after another swift counter-attack by the visitors. Demba Ba backheeled the ball into the path of the overlapping Ben Arfa and his cross picked out Cisse, who made no mistake with a left-footed finish.

Albion needed to strike quickly to have any hope of rescuing the game and Morrison sliced his shot wide when well placed after Youssouf Mulumbu had created the opening. Michael Williamson then deflected a fierce drive from Mulumbu over his own crossbar before Cisse was denied his hat-trick by the alert Foster after Yohan Cabaye's deflected pass had sent him clear of the Baggies After 52 minutes a mix-up between Williamson and goalkeeper Tim Krul allowed Long to nip in and turn the ball into an empty net. Foster then produced an excellent save to turn aside a low shot from Ben Arfa after a powerful run before Williamson became the first player to be booked after an aerial challenge on Long. Albion were looking more dangerous and Ridgewell sliced a shot wide when well placed. The home side, having already used their three substitutes, ended the game with 10 men when Morrison hobbled off after a challenge with Demba Ba with 10 minutes remaining.

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.

ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS NEWCASTLE UNITED