Newcastle’s up and (mainly) down season has continued over the past week.
An awful display in a 3-2 defeat at home to Brentford, ending with boos at St James’ Park, was followed by a display of unity and strength at Spurs on Tuesday, seeing us deliver the bounce-back performance and result Eddie Howe and the players desperately needed.
It was the first of four straight away games, and it should give us confidence heading into our latest challenge: Aston Villa away in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday night.
We saw off Bournemouth on penalties (after a 3-3 draw) in the third round last month, and arrive at Villa Park knowing a win over Unai Emery’s third place side would send us into the last 16, keeping our cup hopes alive for another season after recently exiting the Carabao Cup at the semi-final stage at Man City.
It’ll be a far tougher test than Tottenham posed on Tuesday, but Villa have lost two of their last three home games in the league. Considering we should’ve beaten them in that opening day 0-0 draw and lost 2-0 last month, it would be a sweet time to get revenge and build on that midweek win at Spurs.
Speaking to the media in Friday morning’s pre-match press conference, Howe had this to say ahead of the cup clash.
“The win (at Spurs) has definitely helped the feeling and the mood around the training ground. That’s what winning does. It’s such an amazing thing – it can change the perspective of everyone.
“It was a big win for us but now we’ve got to try and back it up, and we’re searching for that consistency.”
“We would love to have an FA Cup run. I get asked a lot about the cup competitions – I think I was asked the other night about our attitude to it. Our attitude won’t change – we’ll try and win the next game, and that’s Aston Villa away.
“(It’s) a really tough draw – maybe not the draw we wanted – but it’s a competition we want to try and do well in. We enjoyed our run last year, we were disappointed to exit when we did, so the aim is to go as far as we can.”
Bruno Guimaraes (hamstring) and Lewis Miley (dead leg) look set to miss out. Joelinton is closing in on his comeback from a groin issue, although this game will come too soon.
Tino Livramento is back running on the grass and on course to return next month, while Fabian Schar and Emil Krafth remain absent.
For Villa, the hosts will be without four regular starters, with right-back Matty Cash and midfield trio Youri Tielemans, John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara all ruled out.
(3-4-3): Ramsdale – Thiaw, Botman, Burn – Murphy, Tonali, Ramsey, Hall – Elanga, Woltemade, Gordon.
OUT: Pope, Trippier, Bruno, Willock, Barnes.
IN: Ramsdale, Hall, Murphy, Tonali, Woltemade.
Really tough to predict, but we’ve got to strike the balance here of picking a side capable of winning and building on our midweek win at Spurs, while also protecting certain players ahead of next Wednesday’s long trip to Qarabag.
I’m going for a return to a back three (or five), with Murphy the only suitable right wing-back option to protect Trippier, Hall back in down the left, Tonali’s return allowing Willock to rest and Woltemade back in up top. It’s tough to say who will play on the left wing, so it’s a toss up between Gordon and Barnes for me.
I’ve got a feeling we’ll be competitive and give them a real game in a tightly contested cup tie.
I’m backing this one to go to extra time. What happens from there is anyone’s guess, although added time will be far from ideal just a few days before our six-hour flight to Baku!
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Newcastle
Keep the faith. Howay the lads!
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