Aston Villa v Newcastle - Match Preview

After last week’s 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace, Newcastle finally moved out of the relegation zone for the first time since February. A relief, and with the way Benítez’s men are playing, a real sense of optimism now surrounds St. James’ Park.

For the first time this season, or perhaps, for the first time in years, the Geordies have faith with the man in the dugout. It seems the players have now brought into Benítez’s ideas. There is nothing whimsical or flamboyant about his tactics or the way he sets the team up; it’s pure strategic and it’s very effectual. Anita looks reborn playing at right-back, the two defensive midfielders in Colback and Tioté look unbreachable – working tirelessly and being compact when not in possession – and the centre-back pairing of Lascelles and Mbemba has been convincing and cohesive.

Confidence is high, and there’s a real togetherness amongst the group, Benítez and his staff have ensured that this club will not go down without a fight. Heading into Villa Park on Saturday, the Toon Army will be expectant, Newcastle will be favourites to pick up the 3 points against a side who accepted their fate and waved the white flag months ago. If there is a side that’s worse off than Newcastle, it’s Aston Villa. To put it simply: they have been appalling.

To make matters worse, the players and the owner have shown no remorse towards the club’s downfall. There is strong talk from Birmingham that there will be a protest against Randy Lerner and the atmosphere will be toxic, which could easily play into the hands of Newcastle. With previous experience in protesting against the ownership and showing contempt of the club’s plight, Newcastle fans will be very familiar on the affect it can have on the home players when fans are in disarray – the advantage is very much with Newcastle United.

Steven Taylor and Daryl Janmaat are expected to return to the Newcastle squad, with Anita picking up an injury against Crystal Palace, Janmaat could be re-instated at right-back, despite Benítez being keen on keeping faith with the same starting-eleven that has picked up 8 points out of a possible 12. Unless there are further injuries to our defence, it’ll be difficult to see Taylor making another appearance again this season. A position that has given Benítez some food for thought is the Magpies’ left-wing position.

In recent games, the 56-year-old rotated with Sissoko, Wijnaldum and Pérez, but none seem to create the same spark as Townsend on the right – who is, of course, more accomplished in the wide positions. Another possible quandary for the Spaniard will be to whether stick or twist with Papiss Demba Cissé. The Senegalese striker, who has scored 3 goals this season, has come in for some criticism over his lack of movement and effort. Many fans believe Mitrović will be the better option up top as he offers more of an outlet than Cissé. Moreover, it would be difficult to see how the precarious Villa defence will deal with Mitrović’s physicality and combative nature.

Newcastle must safeguard that no complacency kicks in when playing an already relegated side. There is always the fear that without the added pressures, Aston Villa may play with freedom, which in turn, could make them play much better. Their last game against Watford was an interesting affair. With Watford initially leading 1-0, a wounded Villa started to express themselves, and deservedly went 2-1 ahead, only for Deeney to score 2 very late goals and inflict another defeat on caretaker manager Eric Black.

The game on Saturday will be Aston Villa’s last Premier League home game in what has been a tempestuous season for them. Despite the planned protests, the players will want to end it with some dignity in order to avoid a club-record 12 defeats in a row and Newcastle must be wary of that. On the road this season, Newcastle have been 2nd best and have yet to win away from home in 2016. Sunderland and Norwich have tough home games against Chelsea and Manchester United respectively, so the encounter against Aston Villa will be a great opportunity to get some breathing space and put our fate in our own hands.

Predicted NUFC XI: Darlow • Janmaat, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett • Townsend, Colback, Tioté, Wijnaldum • Sissoko • Mitrović

I think Rafa may opt for Mitrović playing as our sole striker with Sissoko and Wijnaldum interchanging positions throughout the game. Personally, I would like to see Shelvey given a more advanced role – it would enable him to pick out those pinpoint passes and make us a real threat in the final third. Despite making a great start to the season, Wijnaldum has really gone off the boil, and has had a tendency to go missing in away games. I would be tempted to give Aarons a chance on our left-wing spot.

At the back, I’m delighted with the growing partnership of Mbemba and Lascelles; it’s disappointing that a revitalised Anita may miss this game due to injury. Dummett going forward gives us the very minimum, but defensively, the Welsh international has readily showed he is reliable.

NUFC’s last 6 games:

Crystal Palace (h) 1-0 W

Liverpool (a) 2-2 D

Manchester City (h) 1-1 D

Swansea City (h) 3-0 W

Southampton (a) 3-1 L

Norwich City (a) 3-2 L

AVFC’s last 6 games:

Watford (a) 3-2 L

Southampton (h) 2-4 L

Manchester United (a) 1-0 L

Bournemouth (h) 1-2 L