Newcastle v Ipswich - Match Preview

Newcastle welcome Ipswich Town to St James’ Park on Saturday in a game that the home side will be hoping to cement their position at the top of the Championship table. The Magpies leap-frogged the Canaries with victory at Barnsley on Tuesday, coupled with Norwich’s draw – after they threw away a two goal lead at Fulham.

Ipswich arrive on Tyneside fresh from a 2-0 midweek victory at home to Burton Albion – a win that halted a slump of five straight games without a win.

The pressure was beginning to build on their former Sunderland manager, Mick McCarthy, but the victory will have quietened his critics for now, and his side will be buoyed by the result.

It remains to be seen what sort of game-plan McCarthy employs against the table-toppers, but the assumption will be that they will set their stall out for a point prior to kick-off.

The problem that they will have – as other teams have been finding out – is that the pace that United have in their side this season is difficult to nullify for a full 90 minutes.

The resurgent Dwight Gayle will be relishing the opportunity to continue on the goal-den run he is on right now. He has scored six goals in the last four games, and an incredible five in his last two at home.

With Jonjo Shelvey looking increasingly impressive, and the pace of Ritchie and/or Atsu feeding off the raking long balls played by the 6-times-capped England man, and Gayle relentlessly finding himself in the right place at the right time, then Newcastle’s play – by championship standards – is scarily good.

However, as rosy as the picture looks, there are still a couple of concerns for Rafa Benitez.

The form of Mohamed Diamé continues to be concern, and you have to wonder how long Benitez will keep faith with him.

He seems to go missing for long periods, and when he is on the ball, he often seems to be caught in possession and his 3.3 average for bad touches per game is way higher than any other player in a black and white shirt.

It may just be a lack of confidence and, if so, it will be tricky to decide what would help him better: to maintain faith with him and hope that, given time, his form will return; or to take him out of the firing line for a while, gradually bringing him into games from the bench and hoping that will bring the best out of him.

The similarities between him and Moussa Sissoko are striking, and it will be hoped by fans, that this lack of form will be a short-term issue.

The other area that worries fans is left-back. Paul Dummett may well be a likeable lad, that always gives 100%, but ultimately the overall quality of his play is always the subject of debate.

He seems to divide opinion among fans. Some think he is a steady performer who deserves his place; others think he is out of his depth and should not be played at all costs.

The truth seems to lie somewhere in between, in reality.

He is not the kind of player that will catch the eye, and have fans out of their seats when he gets the ball. But nor is he a total liability that worries fans whenever the ball comes near him.

The big test for him will come when Spaniard Jesús Gámez and Moroccan Achraf Lazaar are deemed fit enough to start.

It may well be that pressure for his place is exactly what Dummett needs, and will force him to perform at a better level, but he can be sure that if he doesn’t, then once an opportunity is handed to either of his challengers, then he may have a long wait until he gets another chance.

As far as this weekend goes, it would be a huge surprise if Dummet does not start. It would be less of a surprise if Rafa decides to leave Diamé out, especially at home, in a game that they will be expected to win.

Another player that will be champing at the bitt to play will be former Ipswich forward Daryl Murphy. However, it is unlikely that he will start, especially given the form of Gayle, and the fact that he seems to be behind both Ayoze Perez and Aleksander Mitrovic to partner him up front.

It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see Murphy given a place on the bench though, with the opportunity to come on if things aren’t going to plan in the second half.

The game will be close to a sell-out on Saturday, with the question being how many of the tickets that are likely to be unsold from the away allocation, will be made available for home fans.

It will be a great atmosphere, and I fully expect Newcastle to thrive in it, and come away with a comfortable win by a couple of goals.