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Match Previews

Predicted Newcastle United LineUp vs Fulham

10 years ago
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Match Preview Fulham v Newcastle
Saturday 15 March 3pm

A horrendous record of no wins in their last ten matches (all competitions) makes it clear why Fulham are at the wrong end of the table, in fact you have to go back to New Year’s Day for the Cottagers last League win, a 2-1 win over West Ham.

Fulham have often looked to be a team that is likely to struggle but to their credit they’ve regularly punched above their weight on a steady basis over the years.

So surely Newcastle must be fancying their chances on Saturday…

Hopefully. While the two wins are very welcome, the one against Villa was scarcely deserved, plus we’ll find out a lot more against Fulham as to whether we’ve turned a corner after the goal feast at Hull. Before those two wins, Newcastle were on a similar run to that of Fulham now, only one win for United in nine games.

My confidence was growing as the more you look at Fulham they are surely goners in this relegation fight…then the bombshell on Thursday afternoon that both Remy and Debuchy are out for at least three matches each, with respective calf and groin injuries.

Remy scored the winner against Villa and another against Hull. You might point to another three goals scored at Hull but the truth is that Loic Remy gives us a lot more than goals.

His movement is excellent and he’s a constant handful for opposing defences, sadly the rest of our attacking options aren’t.

While De Jong did well in a supporting role at Hull, we’ve yet to see the Dutchman show absolutely anything that might suggest he’s going to start scoring any time soon. I believe he’s nailed on to be asked to do a similar job on Saturday and I can only see Papiss Cisse being the one to be asked to supply the goals in an advanced position ahead of De Jong.

I must admit my interest in football this season has slipped a little as we endure life under Ashley and so it was to my surprise that I found out Berbatov had jumped ship to Monaco in January. With only four league goals for Fulham this season, it suggests he won’t be the biggest loss but then who will do it in his absence?

The answer apparently is…Steve Sidwell. When your top scorer isn’t a striker then you know you have a problem and midfielder Sidwell top scores with seven in all competitions.

With natural goal scorers at a premium on both sides then a low scoring match looks a strong possibility and a 1-0 win to Newcastle at 9/1 takes my fancy. The return of Coloccini should help the rest of the defence through the 90 minutes and Alan Pardew was saved one headache when Debuchy’s injury became apparent. After Mapou and Williamson did decent against Hull, it was speculated as to whether Colo would come straight back in. It looks clear though to me that Mapou will move to right-back and the Newcastle captain back in the middle of defence.

The rest of Newcastle’s team more or less picks itself, Hull goalscorers Anita and Sissoko making a four man midfield with Gouffran and Tiote, while Dummett looks set to continue at right-back.

A cagey game looks likely and a first goal all important. A goal for Newcastle and I can see the home side collapsing but on the other hand there is nothing like taking the lead to give a struggling team new life.

Fulham are on their third manager of the season now and are probably drinking in the last chance saloon on Saturday.

The optimist in me says that Cisse will grab his chance but reality tells me this could be a tough match.

Alan Pardew will be taking things in from afar due to his stadium ban but hard to see a major deviation from the usual tactics.

A bit over the top to say our season rests on this match but if Newcastle are to achieve anything this year then the need to put this bottom of the table club out of their misery.

Betting – Cisse To Score First Goal 8/1 – NUFC To Win 1-0 9/1 – NUFC To Win Both Halves 6/1

To view all Fulham v Newcastle betting click HERE (Prices can fluctuate up and down)

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