Match thread - NUFC v WBA

[Toondes]

West Bromwich
Albion (h)

Saturday sees Newcastle host a Baggies side who sit bottom of the table and will be relegated from the Premier League if they fail to win at St. James' Park.

It's an old-fashioned 3pm kickoff and a limited number of L7 tickets returned by Albion are on public sale.

The metro closure between Tynemouth and Byker has been extended and there will be no service between Tynemouth and St James all day.


NUFC: Christian Atsu remains sidelined after missing the defeat at Everton and is joined in the treatment room by Mikel Merino, who picked up a knock at Goodison.

Jamaal Lascelles is set to complete a century of league and cup games for Newcastle, having made 86 starts and 13 substitute appearances to date since debuting against Northampton Town at SJP in the League Cup during August 2015.
WBAFC: James Morrison and Gareth Barry are out and Hal Robson-Kanu is doubtful but both Nacer Chadli and Daniel Sturridge could return.

Since jettisoning "Pards" (and John Carver) in early April after just one league win in 18 attempts, interim boss Darren Moore has guided the Baggies to a 1-1 draw at Swansea, a 1-0 win at Manchester United and a 2-2 home draw with Liverpool.

Albion's away goal tally of just nine goals is the joint lowest in the division.
Referee: David Coote - a new name to us at Premier League level (this looks to be his top flight debut) but he's no stranger to NUFC.

First spotted taking charge of a 4-1 League Cup home win over Northampton in 2015, Nottingham-based Coote reffed a trio of our games last season: the 0-1 home loss to Blackburn and 2-1 home victory over Wigan plus the 0-3 FA Cup defeat at Oxford.

UK TV: None

Overseas TV:
Astro SuperSport 2
beIN Connect Turkey
beIN Sports MENA 12 HD
Canal+ Sport Online (Poland)
DAZN Japan
Diema Sport 2 HD
Digi Sport (Slovakia) 2 HD
Digiturk Play
DIRECTV Sports Argentina
DIRECTV Sports Caribbean
ESPN Extra (Brazil)
Flow Sports
GO Sports 2 (Malta) +HD
K+ PM (Vietnam)
LeTV Sports Hong Kong
mio Stadium 102/107/108 HD
NBC Sports Gold (USA)
Optus Sport (Australia)
PPTV Sport (China)
QQ Sports Live (China)
SKY HD (Mexico)
SKY NET Sports 1
Spiler TV (Hungary)
Sport 1 Israel +HD
SPS HD (Mongolia)
Star Sports Select HD2
SuperSport 3 Za +HD
TSN GO (Canada)

UK Radio: None

Local Radio: Live on BBC Radio Newcastle

Travel:

There's no metro service between Tynemouth and St James in either direction all day (extended from the original Tynemouth to Byker closure).

Replacement bus 900 operates between affected stations.

Roads around SJP will be traffic free for 20 minutes either side of the final whistle, with barriers closed at these junctions:

Strawberry Place/Leazes Park Road
Strawberry Place/Barrack Road
Strawberry Place/St James Street
Strawberry Lane

Leazes Terrace will also be traffic-free for the same period, additionally closing from 12.30pm.

Pizza Express on Dean Street are offering anyone with a valid match ticket a 30% reduction on their total food bill before and after the game. Only one match ticket is required for a full table to qualify.


Stats:

Baggies in Toon - Premier League:

2015/16 won 1-0 Mitrovic
2014/15 drew 1-1 Perez
2013/14 won 2-1 Gouffran, Sissoko
2012/13 won 2-1 Ba, Cisse
2011/12 lost 2-3 Ba 2
2010/11 drew 3-3 S.Taylor, Lovenkrands, OG
2009/10 drew 2-2 Guthrie, Lovenkrands
2008/09 won 2-1 Barton(pen), Martins
2005/06 won 3-0 Solano, Ameobi 2(1pen)
2004/05 won 3-1 Kluivert, Milner, Shearer
2003/04 lost 1-2 Robert (LC)
2002/03 won 2-1 Shearer 2

Upcoming Premier League fixtures:

Sat 28.04.2018:
Liverpool v Stoke City (12.30pm) Sky
Burnley v Brighton & Hove Albion (3pm)
Crystal Palace v Leicester City (3pm)
Huddersfield Town v Everton (3pm)
Newcastle v West Bromwich Albion (3pm)
Southampton v Bournemouth (3pm)
Swansea City v Chelsea (5.30pm) BT

Sun 29.04.2018:
West Ham v Manchester City (2.15pm) Sky
Manchester United v Arsenal (4.30pm) Sky

Mon 30.04.2018:
Spurs v Watford (8pm) Sky

[Chappy]

Gonna be a s*** game this like...

[bodacious benny]

Not going to be a great spectacle but a win more or less guarantees a top 10 finish imo.

[Heisen]

My 'easy home game that we should win comfortably but will inevitably lose' senses are tingling

[Uncle Paul]

Going to be a scrappy game with West Brom needing a win to cling on to safety, even though the inevitability of relegation will come even with a victory for them.

Can see Rondon causing problems with his physical presence but I hope we can counter them seeing as the longer it’s 0-0 they will start throwing everything at us.

Prediction: Newcastle 2 West Brom 1 ( Slimani 2, Rondon for them)


On a side note, what a day to have the metros off

[Donkey Toon]

My 'easy home game that we should win comfortably but will inevitably lose' senses are tingling

Yeah, especially as we usually seem to struggle against the Baggies, irrespective of form or league position.

[seatonsluicetoon]

I’m happy we’ve reverted back to starting Gayle. Slimani has done well as an impact sub so far and didn’t do the business against Everton when starting. Stick with the winning formula for now.

[ColbacksFlamingBarnet]

I’m happy we’ve reverted back to starting Gayle. Slimani has done well as an impact sub so far and didn’t do the business against Everton when starting. Stick with the winning formula for now.

I know this may sound weird, but now that we're guaranteed safety maybe we should give less experienced/out of favour players some runs out just to get them game time? Then again I don't know how much of a difference the position you finish in makes regarding finances and/or buyer interest.

[seatonsluicetoon]

I’m happy we’ve reverted back to starting Gayle. Slimani has done well as an impact sub so far and didn’t do the business against Everton when starting. Stick with the winning formula for now.

I know this may sound weird, but now that we're guaranteed safety maybe we should give less experienced/out of favour players some runs out just to get them game time? Then again I don't know how much of a difference the position you finish in makes regarding finances and/or buyer interest.

Honestly I just want to finish as high as possible and carry that momentum into next season. If the owner has any intent of keeping Rafa he will back him and half of those fringe players will become irrelevant. I'd have a different opinion if they were academy players who we could be nurturing by giving them first team experience but the truth is most of them are just not cutting it and we might as well shed the dead-weight.

[MulticulturalMag]

stream?

[thedeludedfannymagnet2]

http://firstrowsportes.net/soccer/newca ... 1454688323

[MulticulturalMag]

thanks!

[Hjl]

Scrappy game

[bodacious benny]

Lots happening then

[Hjl]

very boring

[Heisen]

Its like watching a pre-season friendly

[Donkey Toon]

Bugger.

[Colback's Orange Tufts]

Typical Toon

[UlversToon]

This is poor.

[Toondes]

Brilliant defending Dummet