Swansea Preview

It is time to welcome the Welsh up North and across the Tyne. As Newcastle United return home to host Swansea City.

Many fans might think that with being at home and sitting top of the league, this will be an easy game. Well that sort of attitude can quickly undo all of the hard work that has gone on so far, which is why manager Chris Hughton is giving no such impression.

CH has constantly praised his team this season and quite rightly as they have battled away in each match, when behind the scenes the club has been through turmoil. He has kept their focus and drive to try to gain promotion at the first attempt.

I think that Newcastle will take another step in that direction tomorrow, but it won't be all plain sailing. Swansea sit fourth in the league, not far behind the black and white leaders, and this is for good reason. The Swans are unbeaten in 11 games and currently the in-form team of the Championship. So far in this campaign they have kept 10 clean sheets, with half of those games finishing 0-0.

These sort of stats are why I predict a frustrating afternoon at St. James' Park, both teams will probably cancel each other out and both goalkeepers may get a little bored. Unless Newcastle strike early on and force the opposition to chase the game, that is when players like Jonas Gutierrez and perhaps Fabrice Pancrate can really exploit the space available and seal a comfortable victory.

Andy Carroll and Danny Simpson are both minor doubts after coming off on Monday night’s game against Preston, with illness and a thigh problem respectively. Zurab Khizanishvili is available after serving a three game ban whilst Pancrate may be given his chance to impress.

City captain Garry Monk could be missing with a leg injury, along with Mark Gower and Stephen Dobbie. Loan signing David Cotterill will be hoping to make an immediate impact in order to turn his move into a permanent one come January.
Back to the traditional time of 3pm kick off. Enjoy