Newcastle v Aston Villa
Newcastle went out the FA Cup with a whimper last weekend but returned to winning ways during the week and will be hoping for more of the same tomorrow when they host Aston Villa.
Arsenal climbed above Newcastle in the table on Saturday after their emphatic win over Blackburn so the pressure is back on the men from the North East as they bid to continue their quest for a European spot. Alan Pardew’s men are by no means out the running for a Champions League spot which would have surpassed even their most optimistic supporter’s expectations. Their season has been built on a strong home run where they have been hard to beat. Six wins from 11 games at St James’ is not magnificent but they have only lost twice on their home ground this season. Without doubt their most impressive performance was the 3-0 win against Manchester United at the start of the year. The only teams who have managed to leave St James’ with all three points this term are West Brom and Chelsea so Villa will be under no illusions as to how hard tomorrow’s game will be.
Alex McLeish will probably be disappointed with his side’s league position thus far. Villa have struggled to maintain any sort of consistency this season and it has resulted in them being in the bottom half for much of the season. Having drawn 10 games already this season, you don’t have to look too far to see where they have to improve if they wish to climb the table. Away from home they have proved to be stubborn and have lost just the three games. Those defeats came against West Brom, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur which itself is testament to what it takes for the home side to get the better of McLeish’s men. In recent times their away form has been excellent with three wins and two draws from their last five away games in the league. The highlight of that run was their 3-1 success against Chelsea so the journey north will hold no fears for the Villains.
Demba Ba returns from playing in the Africa Cup of nations with Senegal and could go straight back into the lineup. The club’s top goalscorer may well be joined by his international team-mate – Papiss Cisse. Cisse joined the Toon Army before jetting off with Senegal in Janaury and the £10m man will be aiming to continue his excellent scoring record in January if he is selected tomorrow.
Villa were also busy in the January transfer window and brought in Robbie Keane on loan for 10 weeks. Keane is well known to Premier League defences and is already off the mark for his new club. His partnership with Darren Bent screams goals and with the European Championships firmly on the mind of the Republic of Ireland’s captain, he will be desperate to continue his good form tomorrow.
Newcastle are good at home whilst Villa have been very good on the road of late and their style is more suited to playing away from home than at Villa Park. If pushed, I think Newcastle may just have the edge with regards to the result but Villa draw too many games for that to be the percentage call. Instead, with so much firepower on show at both ends, there could well be a few goals.
My Selection: Over 2.5 goals
Best odds available: 10/11 available with Coral
