Newcastle v Barnsley Preview
Posted on | March 4, 2010 | No Comments
Before the start of the season the bookies thought that Newcastle would be clear title favorites while Barnsley were tipped for relegation. As it turns out, the Magpies have held their end of the bargain but Barnsley are having a very good season and will certainly provide a sterner test than first imagined.
Looking at their squad on paper, we shouldn’t be at all surprised that Newcastle are performing so well. The Magpies are currently sat six points clear at the top of the league and promotion already looks like a foregone conclusion. However, considering the turmoil the club is in off the field and the turbulent summer that manager Chris Hughton had to put up with, their position should be regarded as a fantastic achievement regardless of their huge resources. Having won their last three games they’ve now pulled away from 2nd place West Brom and considering the fact they are unbeaten at home in the league, it’s no wonder you can get odds of 6/1 on an away victory in this one.
They’ve been regarded as relegation battlers for years now but incredibly, Barnsley could actually get involved in a promotion hunt of their own this season. Since Mark Robins took over in September they’ve become a different team and with the Tykes now just four points off the play offs, who knows what could happen in the future. They entered a sticky spell not so long ago which saw them lose three on the bounce yet after recording a brilliant away victory over Cardiff and then beating Blackpool, things are on the up again for the Oakwell outfit. One of the main reasons for the change is their away record, which has been quite frankly dismal in recent years. However, they’ve managed to collect twenty points on the road this season although saying that, there’s no doubting their toughest task will hit them on Saturday.
As for team news, Newcastle have been handed a boost with Nicky Butt, Jose Enrique and Peter Lovenkrands all returning to fitness. However, once again the Magpies will have to be without Wayne Routledge, with the former QPR winger still struggling with the calf problem that’s kept him out of the last two games. Barnsley on the other hand have absolutely no problems at the moment although Mark Robins will have to assess both Daniel Bogdanovic and Emil Hallfredsson. The duo have represented Malta and Iceland respectively during the week and it remains to be seen whether they will be ready to play on Saturday as well.
Barnsley might be having their best season in years, but there’s no getting away from the fact that Newcastle are far superior on paper. The Tykes will certainly put up a fight, but there’s no way we can see the Toon’s unbeaten home run coming to an end in this one – 2-0 Newcastle.
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