EPL: Wolves V Newcastle United – Saturday, 28th August

Wolves V Newcastle United

Saturday, 28th August – 15:00 GMT

Wolves

League Position: 7th
League Form: LD

Mick McCarthy has every right to be delighted with the start Wolves have made to the 2010/2011 Premier League campaign, with the West Midland club accumulating a total of four points from a possible six in their opening two league games of the season, sitting rather cosily in seventh position in the table. Next up for McCarthy’s players is six-star Newcastle United, whom scored six at the weekend as they romped to victory over Aston Villa, and on that form obtaining another positive result will be a stiff ask for Wolves although the advantage of playing at home, in front of a packed out Molineux crowd, should stand them in good stead.

Last season it took Wolves until December 5th to record their second league win at Molineux, but the baring those striking orange colours have a glorious opportunity to make it back-to-back home wins when newly promoted Newcastle United come to town. The pair have only played each other twice since the Premier League was formed back in 1992, with both meetings finishing in stalemate as the pair contested two 1-1 draws during the 2003/2004 campaign. Times have changed a lot since then as seven years ago Newcastle probably would have been the favourites heading into this clash, now Wolves attract favouritism and rightly so following a promising start to the new campaign, although getting a result against the spirited Toon Army won’t necessarily be easy.

Wolves needed an unfamiliar scorer to pop up with a game saving goal at the weekend, with Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scoring Wolves’ equaliser with just under 20 minutes left to play at Goodison Park. Despite being a striker by trade, Ebanks-Blake has found goals hard to come by because of his failure to impress when handed a first-team role by Mick McCarthy. However, the Englishman was handed his second successive start for the season, playing an integral role in Wolves collecting points against Stoke City and Everton, and with Steven Fletcher set to sit out the weekend’s home encounter with Newcastle through injury, Blake should receive another golden opportunity to be the fans hero once more.

It is fair to say that their fixtures have been generous but Wolves have certainly made the most of them. The tougher assignment will begin to arrive thick and fast however so it’s important they continue registering points in these type of fixtures so there’s less pressure on them to obtain points in games against the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd, although they won’t see hide nor hair of either of those teams until the middle of October. So there is an opportunity here for Wolves to put themselves in a commanding position, as far as avoiding the relegation goes, by continuing to pick up points before the crunch games arrive at their doorstep.

Newcastle United

League Position: 9th
League Form: LW

Being a Newcastle United fan is never easy, especially over the last couple of years, but even the most hardened of Newcastle supporters won’t have envisaged the topsy-turvy start to the season which they’ve endured so far, being comprehensively beaten on the opening day of the season at Man Utd to smashing Aston Villa for six at St. James Park – There really is no middle ground when it comes to Newcastle United, just fabulous highs and sinking lows.

Chris Hughton must have felt like the cat which got the cream on Sunday, as his Newcastle team despatched of Aston Villa with consummate east in front of a sold out St. James Park crowd. The Toon Army’s version of Marmite, Joey Barton, kicked off proceedings with a thunderous effort from 20 yards which rocketed past Brad Friedel in the Villa goal before Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll got in on the action, with the latter bagging his first ever Premier League hat-trick and has even been tipped to make the England squad before the end of the season, although that seems a little far-fetched. However, some have totally disregarded keeper Steve Harper’s contribution to the Villa win as it was his spot-kick save which denied Villa an early lead, an early goal which would have changed the entire complex of the match.

The 6-0 romp over Aston Villa was Newcastle’s most emphatic win in the Premier League and it is unlikely to be bettered this season, more than making up for their tepid performance at Old Trafford on the opening weekend. Andy Carroll took his hat-trick well, while Kevin Nolan put in another combative display in the heart of the Newcastle midfield, but it was Jonas Gutierrez which impressed us the most. Deployed as a makeshift full-back for his country during the World Cup, Gutierrez was scintillating on Sunday, using his blistering pace to bomb past the Villa full-backs before picking out a man in the middle. All day long the Argentine troubled the Villa defence and he is arguably one of a select few in this Newcastle side which we would deem a ‘potential match winner’. He possess the ability to make something happen, to carve out an opening from nothing and he if he puts in another first-class effort on Saturday then there;s every chance of Newcastle adding to their points tally at Molineux.

News that club captain Steven Taylor has been placed on the transfer list will have rocked Newcastle fans, although Sol Campbell, who has yet to even make one of Chris Hughton’s squads this season, could feature at some point as he nears a return to first-team football. Danny Guthrie missed the clubs emphatic win over Villa with a knee injury and should take his place on the bench, as  Chris Hughton would be hard-pressed to change a winning team, one with proven goals in it. 

Match Prediction: Draw – 2.40 WilliamHill

Two teams riding high on confidence clash at Molineux and we are largely undecided as to who we want and who we think will win Saturday’s meeting between hosts Wolves and visitors Newcastle.

Wolves have made a fabulous start to the season, picking up four points from their opening two fixtures. Newcastle, though, arrive in Wolves off the back off a scintillating performance and result over Aston Villa, smashing the side which finished sixth above Liverpool last season for six at St. James Park, so the Magpies will rightly be brimming with confidence and bursting to return to action at the weekend. However, we cannot separate the two, with Newcastle perhaps edging it in our estimations of quality but Wolves will be a tough nut to crack on home soil and this fixture has every chance of petering out into a stalemate, not that either party would be disgruntled at a share of the spoils.

Match Odds:

Wolves – 2.40 WilliamHill
Draw – 3.30 totesport
Newcastle United – 3.10 Boylesports

Soccer-Betting Tip: 0-0 Correct Score – 9.00 Coral