Newcastle United v Arsenal - Official Build Up / Matchday Thread

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Newcastle United v Arsenal

Sunday 29th December 2013

Kick off 1.30pm @ SJP - Live On Sky ​

Squad (injury update from physio room)


R Taylor (ACL Knee Injury)- no return date


Betting (from PP)
Newcastle 1 - 0 12/1
Newcastle 2 - 0 22/1
Newcastle 2 - 1 12/1
Newcastle 3 - 0 66/1
Newcastle 3 - 1 35/1
Newcastle 3 - 2 35/1
Newcastle 4 - 0 225/1
Newcastle 4 - 1 125/1
Newcastle 4 - 2 125/1
Newcastle 4 - 3 175/1
Newcastle 5 - 0 500/1

Draw 0 - 0 10/1
Draw 1 - 1 6/1
Draw 2 - 2 12/1
Draw 3 - 3 50/1
Draw 4 - 4 275/1

Arsenal 1 - 0 7/1
Arsenal 2 - 0 17/2
Arsenal 2 - 1 15/2
Arsenal 3 - 0 14/1
Arsenal 3 - 1 13/1
Arsenal 3 - 2 22/1
Arsenal 4 - 0 35/1
Arsenal 4 - 1 30/1
Arsenal 4 - 2 50/1
Arsenal 4 - 3 100/1
Arsenal 5 - 0 100/1

Head To Head
2012/2013 Sun 19 May Newcastle Utd. 0 - 1 Arsenal Premier League
2012/2013 Sat 29 Dec Arsenal 7 - 3 Newcastle Utd. Premier League
2011/2012 Mon 12 Mar Arsenal 2 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premier League
2011/2012 Sat 13 Aug Newcastle Utd. 0 - 0 Arsenal Premier League
2010/2011 Sat 05 Feb Newcastle Utd. 4 - 4 Arsenal Premier League
2010/2011 Sun 07 Nov Arsenal 0 - 1 Newcastle Utd. Premier League
2010/2011 Wed 27 Oct Newcastle Utd. 0 - 4 Arsenal League Cup
2008/2009 Sat 21 Mar Newcastle Utd. 1 - 3 Arsenal Premier League
2008/2009 Sat 30 Aug Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premier League
2007/2008 Tue 29 Jan Arsenal 3 - 0 Newcastle Utd. Premier League


Streams
http://www.firstrow.org/

ACS's View
I think this will be 1-1.
​

 

Remember this?

[video=youtube;zHkidTEEjEs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHkidTEEjEs[/video]

 

A tough game for us and I expect a narrow defeat. 1-2.

 

Never.

 

4-4, a game I'll never forget. Here we go.

 

Good old Barton.
Never thought for a second that he'd miss that.

 

Still a nervous moment though.

 

They usually tear us apart. And this match usually has lots if goals.

So I'll predict 1-0 to the Toon!

 

Tough game. I think they'll be a little too slick for us. 1-3.

 

Wow great seats !!

 

I expect a tough game but us narrowly nicking it (1 or 2 goal win). You're in good form and are looking good now under Pardew.

 

that looks very close to where my old season ticket was. I was row JJ in the gallowgate. Seat 132 seems familiar but may be way off, it was over 10 years ago!

 

Not a million miles away, it was taken from FF 104.

 

we've got stoke next right?

 

We have indeed, there is another thread on that one, they come thick and fast now.

 

Stoke at home on Boxing Day.

 

Stoke is crucial, win that and we can't be pegged back with the mid table bunch for a while. If we lose, we then obvisouly have Arsenal and as Southampton have found out it only takes a couple of defeats to be drawn back in to that mid table pack.

If we somehow got 6 points that would be incredible.

 

This is a tough one to call. Arsenal can rip anybody apart but can also be very average for a team so high up the table. Big bonus for us today in playing against 9 men for the second half as we don't have the squad to rotate like they do. Another bonus was them having a tough game at Upton Park and Ramsay being injured (tho I wouldn't wish that on him). Might just be the Christmas Spirit getting to me but I'm feeling unusually confident ahead of this one now.

 

Feeling optimistic, but cautiously so depending on what Pardew does. I didn't agree with Benny wide right today at the expense of Sissoko; we've found our key formation, with the one 'floating' player being whoever plays alongside Remy. I'd leave Benny in for the Arsenal game and bring back Tiote for Anita. I think that gives the right mix. It's difficult, because Arsene's kinda got it right - you can't go direct, because they're CB's are big lads. But you can't expect to play through them, because they've very mobile at full back and midfield. We're going to have to work our a$$es off which is why I'd go back to the formation that's done that the best, but an on-form Ben Arfa trumps Ameobi playing up front every day of the week.

But PLEASE, Sir Alan - no more Sissoko in CM!!!

There tends to have been two types of teams winning stuff; those who play their strongest XI as much as possible, and those who rotate. In the modern game, rotation is vital if you want to compete on 3 or 4 trophy fronts, mainly because it's vital for those clubs to win at least two! That's why things like the CL & PL tend to only be within the grasp of the rich, of those who can field two XI's and still beat most teams. But in the old days - think Blackburn at the start of the PL - it used to be about having a system, a blend that worked and sticking with it. Times have moved on, but not that much. In fact, it's come a bit full circle and I argue that a lot of clubs could benefit from simplifying things down a bit - particularly Spurs and Man U. What we had was a disastrous campaign trying to be all modern with 4-3-3. We even started this season doing it. Then we simply moved Sissoko to RM and went 4-4-2, more or less, and haven't looked back. I think we have an identity and thanks to some exceptional management (there, I said it) are all moving in the same direction. Barring the odd tweak here and there, our strongest XI is plain to see.

Krul, Debuchy, Willo, Colo, Santon, Sissoko, Tiote, Cabs, Gouffran, Ben Arfa, Remy.

There genuinely aren't many teams as good as that in the league. And that's in terms of individuals but also their role in the team - would Gouffran get in Chelsea's 4-2-3-1? Nope. Would Cabaye demand a first team place ahead of Arsenal's Ramsey? Unlikely. But in our team, in our system, they work. There's the flexibility in Benny's position - do we go with a target man? Another CM (Anita)? Another DM and push Cabs up? Another CF and push Remy wider? That's nice to have, it keeps it interesting, varied. But I want to see this XI starting as many games as they're able (form permitting). Top 4 is possible if this eleven footballers take to the field for the 19 remaining games. Crazy, but true.

 

Sissoko is going to do a job no matter where he plays.