Newcastle United Vs Liverpool |
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Date:
Saturday 5th March 2005
Kick Off: 3.00pm BST
Venue: St. James' Park
Ref: Howard Webb (Rotherham)
Comp: Premiership |
| Match Preview
In Association With Toon
Ale |
|
By
Ally
Not so long ago, there was a huge feeling of disappointment and division
both within and outside the club. All this seems to have gone, (for
now anyway!) the loaning out of Bellamy has coincided with a run of
4 wins in a row, 2 of which were in the cups and our season has suddenly
taken a turn for the better.
Souness has reverted to the 4-4-2 formation and it has paid dividends.
A month ago after the Charlton game if anyone had asked me if we could
beat Liverpool at home I'd have laughed. Yet new found optimism has
seen me believing we can win this game and go on to win a cup. Every
year I feel its ‘our year' in the cup but this year I've a sneaky
feeling – I'll leave that one for now though before I jinx us!
It will be very interesting as to the team Graeme Souness puts out
against the Reds. Against Bolton he played with Bowyer and Faye in
the middle leaving Butt and Jenas on the bench. I can see him sticking
with the same central pair for this game. Usually I'd go for Butt
and JJ in the centre but Jenas has been lethargic of late and Faye
has been quietly efficient for us since January. Bowyer had his best
game for a while at the weekend and topped it off with a super goal
so it would be very unfair to drop him.
Dyer is going through some excellent form at the moment, reminiscent
of his early time at the club – and he's even scoring goals! I'm not
his biggest fan and if he'd gone in January I wouldn't have shed a
tear, but he's repaying Souness' faith in him with some good displays
which are finally starting to get an end product. I'm not going to
get too excited about him though, time and again he's produced the
odd excellent performance and we've all felt he'd ‘turned the corner'
only to return to his usual self. Another energetic performance on
Saturday please Kieron!
Celestine Babayaro is out injured with a knee problem so I expect
Aaron Hughes to fill in at left back. He can do a job there but we'll
miss Baba's presence going forward. On the topic of this, its great
to see Stephen Carr showing good form at the minute on the other flank,
if he stays fit we've got a good full back on the books. Kluivert
is expected to return after a 'Grade 1 tear' in his groin, that sounds
worse than it is i'm led to believe but it is worrying how he picks
up so many niggles.
We've got to forget about the cups this weekend and concentrate fully
on the league. We may have lost ground on the European places but
who knows, a good run between now and May could see us jump some places
and see us finish respectably.
Liverpool are still suffering badly from injuries but they've got
a good squad and will still be a very tough game. They tend to play
a 4-5-1 system away from home which means they'll be hard to break
down so we need our pacy players (Dyer and Robert) to stretch their
full backs to open up the play.
More...
Behind Enemy Lines: The View From A Liverpool Fan
Given |
Carr |
Boumsong |
Bramble |
Hughes |
Dyer |
Faye |
Bowyer |
Robert |
| |
Shearer |
Kluivert |
|
Shearer vs. Carragher
I've got a mate who supports Liverpool and he's been raving about
Carragher all season. He's a having a great time and is looking very
solid and dependable. He's not the kind of player to get on the back
page of the paper in the way Ferdinand would, but he gets on with
his job quietly and to great effect. Shearer will have a tough time,
but so will Carragher! It'll be an interesting dual and unfortunately
I can see Carragher marking him tightly – this might not be a disaster
though as it can open up space for others.
Gerrard vs. Bowyer
Expect a fully committed dual between these two players. Gerrard is
a super player and the Carling Cup defeat will have hurt him and he'll
want to get back to top form. Bowyer has 'huffed and puffed' through
a lot of the season so far but his performance against Bolton last
week has given me hope. He's also scoring goals again (6 this season)
and has shown great desire to get in to double figures. His passing
lets him down though, something that rarely happens with Gerrard.
If Bowyer gets at his heels (preferably without fouling!) he could
come out on top here. By this I mean an energetic performance closing
him down at the first chance. Nick Montgomery did superbly for Sheff
Utd against Vieira using this tactic so there's no reason why Bowyer
can't do the same.
Morientes vs. Boumsong/Bramble
Morientes has had a slow start to his career at Anfield but has certainly
shown glimpse of talent with a couple of excellent goals. Liverpool
struggled to get the ball to him against Chelsea last week and as
a result he was ineffective and was subbed. Our defence has improved
lately and Bramble has been terrific. Boumsong has been a calming
influence to our back line, and whilst doing nothing sensational yet
the impact he's had on Bramble is invaluable. If we keep up the performances
we've seen of late we should keep Morientes quiet.
| NUFC Squad News &
Pre-Match Reaction |
Coach Terry McDermott on the match:
"Games between United and Liverpool are
always special for me.
"Obviously I'm from Liverpool and had the best years of my playing
career with the club. I won a lot of trophies there and have plenty
of happy memories.
"But my heart is in Newcastle United now, it has been for a long time.
It's always nice to face Liverpool, but there's only one team I want
to get the points and that is obviously Newcastle.
"I've had some right battles with Liverpool down the years. People
remember the 4-3 games, which were unbelievable. For it to happen
once with Kevin was amazing, but then for the same scoreline to come
up when Kenny was in charge was hard to believe.
"I would like another game on Saturday with as much excitement as
those ones - but this time with us getting the points!
"These are the games I look forward to, and I think the fans do as
well. I think there is a very special type of camerarderie between
the Geordies and the Scousers, and it probably goes back to the 1974
Cup Final at Wembley. The banter is great.
"I always remember going to Anfield on the fifth anniversary of the
Hillsborough disaster, and the fans were absolutely unbelievable that
day. The hairs really stood up on my neck.
"I know what it means to the people of Tyneside to get a trophy.
"The first one is always the hardest one to get, but we're going well
in the two competitions so far and hopefully we can make further progress.
I remember the scenes when we won the old First Division. The place
came to a standstill, so God only knows what it would be like if we
won the FA Cup or the UEFA Cup.
"It's not just about the cups though, there are still plenty of points
left to play for in the Premiership and we haven't given up on a top
six finish yet. It's a tall order, I know that, but it's not out of
the question. If we beat Liverpool then we will move closer to them,
we still have Middlesbrough to play at home so again we could close
the gap there.
"We need to keep this little run going and look to win as many games
as we can between now and the end of the season. We're a little bit
off the pace, but a lot of the teams above us still have to play each
other so they can't all take maximum points.
"It's been a difficult season for everyone at the club, but I feel
it's important that we all stick together. Hopefully we can bring
some silveware to the club, and if we do then that will be a nice
little rainbow at the end of a dark tunnel for us.
"And if we don't win a trophy, then it certainly won't be for the
want of trying."
United squad:
Given, Harper, Carr, Taylor, Hughes, Bramble, Boumsong, O'Brien, Dyer,
Bowyer, Milner, Robert, N'Zogbia, Faye, Jenas, Butt, Shearer, Kluivert,
Ameobi.
| Liverpool Squad
News & Pre-Match Reaction |
Manager Rafa Benitez on the match:
"I do not think the Carling Cup result should be a big problem for
the rest of our season. We must recover quickly from the final, that
is the most important thing.
"If we can do that it won't be a problem. Once we get over the final
and concentrate on the Newcastle game it will be different for the
players.
"We still have a lot to work for and, as I told the players after
Sunday's game, they have a lot to be proud of."
Liverpool squad:
Dudek, Carson, Finnan, Nunez, Hyypia, Biscan, Pellegrino, Riise, Welsh,
Garcia, Smicer, Gerrard, Hamann, Le Tallec, Warnock, Kewell, Morientes,
Baros.
 Howard
Webb
The Rotherham born referee is no stranger to Newcastle. Officiating
the 4-1 defeat at home to Fulham earlier on in the season and the
2-0 win over Non-League Yeading at Loftus Road in the FA Cup 3rd Round.
Failed to award Newcastle a blatant penalty in the Fulham match and
sent Graeme Souness to the stands. Lets hope he has a better game
against Liverpool.
| Last Season (at St. James'
Park) |
NUFC 1-1 Liverpool (Premiership: 16/12/ 2003)
A half noon kick-off saw a rather scrappy and boring game end 1-1
with Liverpool taking an early lead after 6 minutes thanks to a mix
up in defence between Titus Bramble and Jonathan Woodgate, allowing
Danny Murphy to nip in and score. The visitors came purely for the
draw with no striker, just 5 midfielders and a 5 man defence. It took
Newcastle until the 63rd minute to break them down with laurent Robert
being up ended by Chris Kirkland to earn United a penalty which Alan
Shearer powered home. The game will be best remembered for Steven
Gerrard's appalling two footed lunge at Nobby Solano, with the Liverpool
man not even picking up a booking. A disgraceful challenge that Nobby
did well to jump out of the way otherwise the little Peruvian would
have had his legs took off. Scandalous how that one went unseen.
Teams:
United: Given, Hughes (Solano 46), Woodgate, Bramble, Bernard, Dyer,
Jenas, Speed, Robert, Shearer, Ameobi. Subs not used: O'Brien, Harper,
Ambrose, LuaLua.
Liverpool: Kirkland, Riise, Biscan, Hyypia, Otsemobor, Murphy, Hamann,
Gerrard, Diouf, Pongolle (Smicer 52), Heskey. Subs not used: Diao,
Le Tallec, Traore, Bernardi.
Attendance: 52,151
| Previous 5 Meetings (at St.
James' Park - all competitions) |
| Date |
Score |
Comp |
Toon Scorers |
| 1/1/2003 |
Won 1-0 |
Premiership |
Robert |
| 30/9/2001 |
Lost 2-0 |
Premiership |
None |
| 26/11/2000 |
Won 2-1 |
Premiership |
Solano, Dyer |
| 26/12/1999 |
Drew 2-2 |
Premiership |
Shearer, Ferguson |
| 30/8/1998 |
Lost 4-1 |
Premiership |
Guivarc'h |
| Head To Head At St. James'
Park |
| |
Newcastle
Wins |
Draws |
Liverpool
Wins |
| League |
31 |
27 |
23 |
| Form Guide (League &
Cups) |
| Newcastle |
Liverpool |
| Opposition |
V |
Result |
Opposition |
V |
Result |
| Bolton Wanderers |
H |
W 2-1 |
Chelsea |
N |
L 3-2 |
| SC Heerenveen |
H |
W 2-1 |
Bayer Leverkusen |
H |
W 3-1 |
| Chelsea |
H |
W 1-0 |
Birmingham City |
A |
L 2-0 |
| SC Heerenveen |
A |
W 2-1 |
Fulham |
H |
W 3-1 |
| Charlton Athletic |
H |
D 1-1 |
Charlton Athletic |
A |
W 2-1 |
| Manchester City |
A |
D 1-1 |
Watford |
A |
W 1-0 |
| Coventry City |
H |
W 3-1 |
Southampton |
A |
L 2-0 |
| Arsenal |
A |
L 1-0 |
Burnley |
A |
L 1-0 |
| Southampton |
H |
W 2-1 |
Manchester United |
H |
L 1-0 |
| Yeading |
A |
W 2-0 |
Watford |
H |
W 1-0 |
| *Last
10 matches in all competitions. Keys: V
= Venue L = Loss W
= Win D = Draw |
A tight yet entertaining game, I'm going for a 2-1 win
for us. Goals coming from Shearer and Robert. Howay the lads! |
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