West Brom v Newcastle Preview

Posted on | August 7, 2009 | No Comments

This is one of the biggest games of the opening weekend as two sides who suffered relegation from the Premiership go head to head. Despite being labeled as one of the biggest clubs in the country, Newcastle probably go into this game as slight underdogs with the club being in complete turmoil. West Brom on the other hand are expected to perform well this season and prosper under the new guidance of Roberto Di Matteo.

While  West Brom were comprehensively relegated last season, their experience and success at gaining promotion from the Championship means they are one of the favorites to bounce straight back. The Baggies have been labeled as something of a yo-yo team in recent seasons although their supporters will obviously be slightly more apprehensive this time around after Tony Mowbray left for Celtic at the start of the summer. The club turned to Roberto Di Matteo and while he has experienced some great success in the lower leagues, it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll make the step up.  Despite their relegation, there haven’t been too many changes in squad personnel with just the two players arriving at the club. Simon Cox was signed from Swindon in a £2m deal while Youssuf Mulumbu arrived for a small fee from France. Paul Robinson was the only significant loss during the summer meaning that Baggies supporters have every reason to be confident ahead of the new season.

As for Newcastle, the story couldn’t be any more different. Despite being just one day away from the new season, they still don’t have a manager and takeover talks are still ongoing. Their pre-season has hardly been successful either, with a full strength side losing 6-1 to League One side Leyton Orient. They’ve failed to make one summer signing but considering all of the turmoil, they’ve done quite well to keep most of their key players. Only Michael Owen, Obefemi Martins and David Edgar have departed – meaning that if the Magpies can get their act together they still have a chance of performing well in this division.

In terms of team news, Roberto Di Matteo has a few problems with James Morrison and Neil Clement both set to miss out through heel and knee injuries respectively. Ishmael Miller is another absentee and he won’t feature for the foreseeable future following knee surgery. The visitors don’t have much to shout about either with Danny Guthrie and Nicky Butt both ruled out through injuries while Sebastien Bassong is in the midst of completing a move to Tottenham.

Newcastle may have a fantastically talented squad on paper, but there’s just too much turmoil at St James’ Park at the moment. West Brom have experience of succeeding in this division and we think they could be in line for a comfortable victory in this one – 2-0 Baggies.

Related posts:

1. West Brom v Watford Preview
2. West Brom v Reading Preview
3. Reading v West Brom Preview
4. Watford v West Brom Preview
5. Doncaster v West Brom Preview

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