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Match Preview: NUFC Vs Charlton Athletic
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 Tuesday
27 December 2005
By Ally
Campbell
It’s the second of four games in the hectic Christmas season, and
Monday certainly wasn’t the best of starts. It wasn’t so much the
result, 2-0 on paper doesn’t look that bad, but the manner in which
we capitulated meant the score could have easily been 4 or 5. A home
game against an out of form Charlton is the perfect remedy for this,
lets move on and get another 3 points on the board.
Injuries & Suspension |
No sign of Emre at Anfield, but I’m guessing that he was just rested
in order to make sure he was fit for the rest of the week. I’d put
a couple of quid on him playing this game in place of N’Zogbia. Parker
returns from suspension, he was a huge miss at Anfield and his drive
from midfield was sorely lacked. Bowyer’s suspension will mean Solano
will play on the right, and Taylor’s unfortunate setback means that
Bramble will be in the middle. Getting closer to full strength, is
it alright to judge you now Graeme?
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United Squad |
Given, Harper, Carr, Ramage, Babayaro, Elliott, Boumsong, Bramble,
Faye, Emre, Solano, Luque, Ameobi, Bowyer, N'Zogbia, Clark, Parker,
Brittain, Shearer, Owen, Chopra.
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Charlton Squad |
Myhre, Young, Fortune, Spector, Hreidarsson, Kishishev, Ambrose, Holland,
Hughes, Bent, Bartlett, Lisbie, Andersen, Perry, Sorondo, Powell,
Smertin, Thomas, Rommedahl, Euell.
Danny Murphy sits this one out due to suspension while Sorondo (bruised
foot), Alexei Smertin (knee) and Jerome Thomas (virus) are all major
doubts.
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How Do We Approach The Game? |
Basically if we defend as deeply as we did against Liverpool we’ll
be bored to death and it’ll be about 1-0 or 0-0. When we’re at home
against the likes of Charlton (no disrespect intended) we need to
play high up the field and attack them like we always used to. Hopefully
a positive team selection will help this happen, and Emre, Luque,
Solano and Owen can finally link up on the field.
I thought Luque looked pretty good on Monday, put some lovely crosses
and passes through to the strikers. Obviously against a stubborn defence
like Liverpool’s we weren’t going to create much, but against Charlton
he should be able to take advantage and create/score some goals.
Charlton, despite their form, are a good team with some excellent
players. They’ll probably play 4-5-1, but with Bent upfront he offers
a quick outlet that will no doubt worry the Chuckle Brothers in defence.
Expect another man of the match performance from Given!
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Key Player: Newcastle |
As ever, for us it looks like Michael Owen. He had a quiet game on
Monday and got very little service, and surprise surprise we didn’t
score. Against Charlton Owen should get a couple of chances and if
he puts one away, especially early on, we’ve got a great chance of
winning. He’s only scored 1 goal at St. James's so far, and we could
do with something to cheer about this Christmas! Critics say we’re
a one man team, we’re not, but if the main man doesn’t perform then
we’re a significantly poorer team.
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Key Player: Charlton |
For Charlton, as I mentioned before I think Darren Bent is the biggest
threat. A former target for Sir Bobby, he’s quick, direct and a good
finisher. With the likes of Murphy behind him to play through balls
he’ll be hoping for a few chances. With only 1 man upfront, it should,
in theory be relatively easy to mark him out of the game, but since
when have NUFC been easy?
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Verdict? |
Shearer is still looking for the record and I can honestly see him
equalling it tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll put on a nice attacking performance
for the fans and go home with a 3-1 victory. Howay the lads!
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Likely Lineup |
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Pre-Match Reaction: Scott Parker |
"It will be nice for me to play against Charlton, I've not done that
since I left the club a couple of years back.
"I obviously have fond memories of my time with Charlton, they were
my first club and that's where I made the breakthrough.
"I still keep an eye on their results, and this is one of the matches
that I first look for when the fixture list comes out.
"I know they started the season well before their recent blip, but
they have some quality players and I'm sure they will be confident
of turning things around and moving back up the table."
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Pre-Match Reaction: Alan Curbishley |
Tbc...
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