Newcastle – Villa; If we’re talking attack, we win. If we’re talking defence we lose.

I didn’t expect to be home to watch this one, but here we are. I finished early and it’s happy days.
It just so happens the chap I’m now working for is a Newcastle fan and he was a season ticket holder until last season, where the travel had made following them prohibitive. So there’s going to be some banter at work tomorrow, whatever happens. Let’s hope I’m the one who’s dishing it out.

Hopefully the headline is pretty obvious, but what I mean is if our attacking dominates the game, we should win this.
But if it becomes all about our defence, I really don’t hold out much hope for us.
Which is daft really because we ought to be clear favourites.
I’ve seen comments where some fans really don’t expect us to win this one and I’m perplexed.
Are we suddenly saying Newcastle are a good side on the back of a couple of wins or is it because our defence looks more leaky than a really leaky thing?
If it’s the latter, I have to agree.
I don’t trust our defence at all lately and am now finding it difficult to hide my dislike of Tyrone Mings who was at fault for at least two of the goals against Leeds.
To be fair, Konsa was also poor and maybe it’s the perfect time for Hause to come back into the side. Ideally for me, it would have been Mings who was dropped, but Konsa’s rush of blood to the head has made the decision easy for Stevie G.

Talking of who, apparently if we lose today it would see the manager on a lower win percentage than Dean Smith, who of course has been sacked.
I’m cognisant that we’ve played the top three in that short run of games, but it got me wondering how long it would be before the honeymoon was over. Come to think of it are we still in a honeymoon? I’m not so sure we are because results haven’t been great have they?

Squad news and Coutinho should be fit after he was subbed with cramp against Leeds. Buendia is looking doubtful after taking a knock on the hip. Traore is out with a hamstring problem and is beginning to look like yet another sicknote player. And of course, Konsa is out for two games. I’ve seen suggestions that Calum Chambers might come in for him, but I think that would be incredibly harsh on Hause, who’s done very little wrong whenever he’s played.
If Hause doesn’t get to play today, you have to wonder if he’ll see any future at the Villa, but that’s for another day. Perhaps Gerrard will go the whole hog and start both Chambers and Hause? I’d be okay with that, but perhaps many wouldn’t as strangely to me at least, most still think Mings is a good defender. So probably not then.

A lot of the team still picks itself, doesn’t it?

Martinez in goal, Digne, Mings, Cash, Luiz, McGinn, Ramsey, and Coutinho with the only issues being who replaces Konsa, who replaces Buendia if he isn’t fit (Sanson?) and who plays up front?
Does Ings come in for Watkins? I suspect he might, but it wouldn’t be my choice.
I suggested that I’d like to see Ramsey up top, with Watkins and Ings out. It would leave room for another midfielder, which is frankly the area that we’ve had to rely on for goals anyway. Ramsey is our equal hihest scorer on 5, I think and neither Ings or Watkins are scoring. If you are going to play one of them, it has to be Watkins, purely because of his movement and well, just being involved a lot more than Ings does.
I get that Ings is the better goal taker, but you have to get on the ball a lot more than he has for us, I think.

Newcastle squad news and they’re hoping Kieran Trippier will be fit. I hope he isn’t. Paul Dummett could return after a hamstring problem and Matt Targett is of course, ineligible.

Prediction time then and after watching our defence the other night, I have to admit that I’m not very hopeful.
Eddie Howe seems to have got his team fighting and if they come out all guns blazing, they might well have too much for our defence, who look likely to concede everytime they’re threatened.
But with Coutinho really looking the part and Ramsey making some great runs and scoring well, we could quite easily dominate and win convincingly.

With that, I’m tempted to say it’ll be 1-1, but that’s boring and I’m going for a 2-1.
The trouble is, I’m not sure which way it will go.
Being a Villan, I suppose I have to say we’ll win.
2-1 then.

UTV!