Newcastle’s most important game of the season is about to come much sooner than any of us expected. It is only mid-July with the Toon facing their second game of the season and they are already facing a make or break clash when they play in the Arasen Stadium in the second leg of their Intertoto tie with Norwegian outfit Lillestrom on Saturday afternoon.

Glenn Roeder demonstrated what his side’s approach to the game is when they set off for Oslo from Newcastle International early on Wednesday afternoon. He has claimed they are treating the side, based just on the outskirts of Oslo, like they would Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea, and that is exactly what they must do if they are to progress into the final UEFA Cup qualifying round and have any chance of Europe in the coming season.

Now I didn’t view the first leg at St James Park myself as I was preoccupied with work but I have studied the highlights and researched the Lillestrom side with the aid of match reports and other fan’s opinions from that evening.

Lillestrom performed high above expectation in the game in Newcastle and a mixture of fitness and underestimation played a massive part in the tie. Although Glenn Roeder claims his side were not fully fit for the game, I believe that the side somewhat underestimated Lillestrom. I do expect the Magpies to play
much better in the second leg however and I hope they have learned from their mistakes.

True we were very unfit as can be expected from such an early season start and lack of match practice however the coaching team could not have predicted how the game was going to pan out. There must have been a voice in the back of Newcastle player’s heads telling them that the game would be a simple task. Of course this is a completely inappropriate approach to a game but is typical of United over the past few years.

There are some signs of hope to take into the second leg however. Steven Taylor completed his first 90 minutes after recovering from a shoulder injury and Albert Luque got off the goal mark at St James Park in a competitive match.

Another sign of hope comes from an unlikely source. Although he is not a favourite among Geordies, I am sure that Shola Ameobi will play an important part in the club returning to Europe.

He can be frustrating at times and is not the most talented player but as Newcastle’s only fully recognised striker, he will be needed up front for us. He can score goals when they are needed most and played a pivotal part in Glenn Roeder’s seven
place finish in the Premiership last season. My money is on him to grab a goal or two on Saturday.

No matter what happens on Saturday, the Magpies need to win. A 0-0 draw is enough to send Lillestrom through. They have the advantage through their away goal. United need to score and they need to win.

Squads

Newcastle: Ameobi, Babayaro, Bramble, Butt, Carr, Carroll, Emre, Faye, Given, Harper, Huntington, Krul, Luque, Milner, Moore, N’Zogbia, O’Brien, Parker, Pattison, Ramage, Solano, Taylor

Lillestrom: Andresen, Bertheussen, Fredrikson, Kali, Kippe, Koren, Mifsud, Misund, Mouelhi, Muller, Myklebust, Occean, Strand, Powell, Rambekk, Riise, Sogard, Stefanutto, Sundgot, Wehrman, Winsnes

Predicted Line Up

Shay Given
Stephen Carr
Titus Bramble
Steven Taylor
Celestine Babayaro
Nolberto Solano
Scott Parker
Emre
Charles N’Zogbia
Shola Ameobi
Albert Luque

Key Player

For me the Key Player has got to be Charles N’Zogbia. He wasn’t fantastic in the first leg but his pace and ability is enough to scare anyone. If he runs the wings and takes on the fullbacks supplying crosses to the forwards then Newcastle should have no problem in progressing into the UEFA Cup. He is one of our greatest young players and has shown in the past that he can easily have a massive impact on a game.

Pre-Match Talk

Newcastle’s Glenn Roeder:

“Lillestrom were clearly fired up at our place on Saturday, but that is always the case. A lot of their players will have seen that game as a chance to put themselves in the shop window, they were on the big stage and they were desperate to impress.

“I’m sure that will be the case again when we meet them on Saturday. In terms of preparing for the game, we won’t be doing anything differently having watched them again.”

Newcastle’s Steven Taylor:

“We’ve got to treat the second leg next Saturday like a 0-0 game - and we must keep a clean sheet.

“We have to score to win, but we can definitely do it. We’ve got goals in us if we can keep that clean sheet. But it will be tough, just as we knew this game would be tough.”

Prediction

This is impossible to predict as I am unsure which Newcastle team will turn up. The team are more than capable of playing Lillestrom and winning quite convincingly and I wish this be the side that turns up on Saturday.

However the same could have been said last week. Lillestrom are in the driving seat but I’m still going to say 1-0 Newcastle with Ameobi grabbing that all important goal that sees us scrape into the UEFA Cup.