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Newcastle United, play Tony Pulis’ Stoke City in the Premier League at St James’ Park On Saturday.
Joe Kinnear’s Magpies go into this clash with Premier League debutantes Stoke, having drawn three, won one and lost one in their last five matches in the Premiership. Newcastle drew 0-0, last time out against Middlesbrough, in the North East derby at the Riverside Stadium, but welcomed back Australian International Mark Viduka to the side, who Kinnear hopes can score the goals to enable the Toon to climb up the table. Where they are currently in 17th place and just off the drop zone by virtue of goal difference.
Stoke will be pleased by their recent form in their first season in the Premier League, with the Potters only losing once in their last six league games to Manchester United 5-0 at Old Trafford. This run has seen them beat Arsenal, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion at the Britannia Stadium, while drawing away to Hull City and Wigan Athletic. This sees Pulis’ side in 14th place in the table, but still only three points of the relegation zone, with a win at St James’ Park vital if they are to steer clear of a relegation fight.
Newcastle will be without Damien Duff (groin), Alan Smith (achilles), Ignacio Gonzalez (achilles) and Joey Barton (knee) for the visit of the Potters, while Kinnear will wait to see if Shola Ameobi (ankle) and Xisco (groin) can recover in time to feature against Stoke.
Stoke are still without Liam Lawrence (ankle), but Pulis could have Ryan Shawcross (back) and Dave Kitson (knee) available for the trip to the North East in this crunch Premier League clash.
Newcastle United: (from) Given, Coloccini, Taylor, Enrique, Cacapa, Guthrie, Martins, Owen, Bassong, N’Zogbia, Gutierrez, Xisco, Harper, Geremi, Beye, Butt, Ameobi, Kadar, Edgar, Forster, Tozer, Viduka, LuaLua, Carroll
Stoke City: (from) Sorensen, Griffin, Higginbotham, Olofinjana, Cort, Whelan, Soares, Cresswell, Fuller, Sidibe, Kitson, Pugh, Pericard, Matteo, Shawcross, Diao, De Laet, Davies, Tonge, Delap, Diagne-Faye, Phillips, Wilkinson, Simonsen, Dickinson, Sonko
Chelsea play, Joe Kinnear’s Newcastle United in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Blues go into the clash with Necastle on the back of four straight wins in the Premiership, which sees Chelsea at the top of the Premier League on goal difference over nearest rivals Liverpool. Scolari will be looking for his Chelsea side to take all three points against the Magpies as the West London club chase their first title under Scolari.
Newcastle will hope to take something from their trip to Stamford Bridge, but are yet to win on their travels away from St James’ Park this season. The Magpies are just above the relegation zone on goal difference and need to start picking up results quickly on the road if they are to climb to safety in the league.
Scolari is unable to call on long-term injury Michael Essien (knee) along with Franco Di Santo (hamstring) and Alex (thigh) for the visit of Newcastle. Frank Lampard is also a doubt after missing the England clash with Germany with a rib injury, while Ashley Cole, Petr Cech, Joe Cole and defender’s Ricardo Carvalho and Juliano Belletti could be in contention for Chelsea if they can shake off their respective injuries in time. Striker Didier Drogba starts his three-match ban for the coin-throwing incident against Burnley in the Carling Cup.
The Magpies are still without Mark Viduka ,Alan Smith and Ignacio Gonzalez, who all have achilles problems, while Kinnear will also not have Joey Barton (knee) available for the trip to Chelsea. Late fitness tests will be given to defender Steven Taylor and Xisco, who are both expected to recover from groin strins in time for Saturday’s game.
Chelsea: (from) Cech, Ivanovic, A Cole, Cavarlho, Lampard, J Cole, Mikel, Ballack, Malouda, Sinclair, Bosingwa, Bridge, Ferreira, Deco, Kalou, Cudicini, Terry, Mineiro, Belletti, Anelka, Stoch, Woods
Newcastle United: (from) Given, Coloccini, Enrique, Cacapa, Guthrie, Martins, Owen, Duff, Bassong, Harper, N’Zogbia, Gutierrez, Xisco, Geremi, Beye, Taylor, Kadar, Edgar, Forster, Tozer, Carroll, LuaLua
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