Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan makes two changes to the side which drew with Middlesbrough last weekend.
Senegal star Habib Beye, back from the African Nations, returns to the United defense to start at right back and a surprise move is that Stephen Carr will switch over to the left back berth in place of Charles N’Zogbia, who is suspended because of 5 yellow cards. But this means that Jose Enrique does not come in at left back, as expected. Seems a strange selection, unless Kevin is looking for more experience at the back.
The second change sees James Milner return to the midfield (right wing) to face the club he was on loan with a couple of seasons ago. He replaces Emre, who captained Turkey during the week, who rather surprisingly drops down to the bench.
Abdoulaye is joined on the bench by Jose Enrique, Mark Viduka, Abdoulaye Faye and Steve Harper. Quite a strong bench. That means both Damien Duff and Joey Barton start again for Newcastle, in a game we cannot really afford to lose.
Villa make one change from the side which was beaten at Fulham with Ashley Young returning from suspension, as expected.
Lee Mason is the referee, and from what we’ve seen of him, he seems a decent enough referee.
TEAMS:
Aston Villa: Scott Carson, Olof Mellberg, Wilfred Bouma, Curtis Davies, Martin Laursen, Stilyan Petrov, Gareth Barry (c), Nigel Reo Coker, Ashley Young, Shaun Maloney, John Carew
Subs: Stuart Taylor, Marlon Harewood, Zat Knight, Craig Gardner, Isaiah Osbourne
Newcastle United: Shay Given, Habib Beye, Stephen Carr, Steven Taylor, Claudio Cacapa, James Milner, Nicky Butt, Joey Barton, Damien Duff, Alan Smith, Michael Owen (c)
Subs: Emre, Mark Viduka, Jose Enrique, Abdoulaye Faye, Steve Harper
Referee: Lee Mason
Attendance: tbc
149 comments so far
ToonKing
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Comment #41fookin yeah!!!!!! MICKEY IS BACK!!!!!!
Scott
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Comment #42cacapa’s started welll…… 🙁
Chicken
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Comment #43right which tw@t is going to say milner can’t cross now???
GET IN!!!!!
AlexW
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Comment #44YAAAAAAY
Steve_48
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Comment #45Get in!
Scott
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Comment #46GEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDIN
ObaFan2
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Comment #47Beauty ………
Keep the Faith lol
Kevin
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Comment #48Great cross from MILNER at that!!! Early lead!!
Hadrian
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Comment #49ohh my god, micky owen ,
could be a geordie hero yet ehh
twice he’s scored within first 5 mins last games
shirts
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Comment #50good Crosses=goals!
ObaFan2
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Comment #51Suprised it wasn’t disallowed like last weekend’s.
Kaz
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Comment #52Whoooo!!!!!!!! Newcastle!!! Great to see owen scores, it will boost his morale!!! Hope Smith get one to boost his morale!!!
Robert from Serbia
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Comment #53GOAAAAAAL !!!! 😀
AlexW
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Comment #54butt is a great dm, but cnt pass for shit
Tom Cairns
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Comment #55I guess the logic is that in regards to butt playing that away from home we cant really go without a dm and is pretty much the only one we have. KK wont hav had long to assess faye and for all we know he might not be fully fit, emre played midweek so might be not 100%. up front to be honest i would prefer smith over viduka, very much looking forward to oba getting back. at the back we have chopped and changed so much in this season so a bit of consistency at cb’s is needed, do agree tho that faye has looked better than both taylor and cacapa. all in all i quite like the team but would have liked to see emre instead of butt.
coolsmurf
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Comment #56when owen starts scoring, he’s on a roll…
Hadrian
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Comment #57first game ive not put a few quid on us !!!
i dont care as long as we win tho 😀
our passing seems great so far 🙂
indian toon
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Comment #58up the toon
indian toon
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Comment #59cmon the toon
shirts
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Comment #60butt, what happened to passing to a team-mate?
ToonKing
Feb 9, 2008 at 12:58 PM
Comment #61Cacapa is not looking good……….
shirts
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Comment #62piss-poor left foot on carr. Why is Enrique not on?
Mitch H
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Comment #63Owen’s looking well up for it. Good Lad.
Carr & Butt are just not good enough !
indian toon
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Comment #64got any links please!!!
Hadrian
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Comment #65sopcast
http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/sat9.2/Villa_Newcastle.html
indian toon
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Comment #66thanks!!
Steve_48
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Comment #67Barton would have a good keeper one day 😉
Hadrian
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Comment #68.
bit of luck their for the first time this season for us .
arlyz1
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:05 PM
Comment #69Maybe this can be our day after all. A clear handball by Barton, but no penalty given. After the refereeing blunders vs boro we need a break from the officials.
Hadrian
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:05 PM
Comment #70smiths winning alot of ball’s lately 😮
ObaFan2
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Comment #71Is he?
ToonKing
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Comment #72Mickey is on fire man, he’s all over the place, brilliant.
Mitch H
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Comment #73Smith’s doing very well in the air today. If Owen can shadow his knockdowns, he’s gonna get more goal chances.
Eve
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Comment #74Carr’s looking a bit shaky..again.
Chicken
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Comment #75wtf was barton playing at?
the bloke is a fking liability.
I fking hate him!!!!!!!
Hadrian
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Comment #76there gonna score aint they , its just typical newcastle .
god im so nervous , go get another goal !
Eve
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Comment #77Good save though..kinda.
Hadrian
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Comment #78shame about his right foot
davew
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Comment #79sopcast link anyone?
Atrocious_Footwear
Feb 9, 2008 at 1:08 PM
Comment #80Lee Mason is NOT a good ref.
This is taken from NUFC.com:
Lee Mason: Lancashire-based whistler who was added to the Premiership list last season and whose only previous senior Newcastle game was the penalty shootout victory at Watford in the League Cup last season.
We didn’t think much of him, commenting:
“No better than Sunday League standard.
Nothing short of an utter disgrace, as he spent the second half and extra time looking to giving free kicks against us – in conjunction with his equally biased linesmen.
The continued antics of Mason rightly enraged the away support, prompting a second half chant suggesting an intimate relationship with the former Reg Dwight…..”