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“Oh Isak...” begins James Walton. “What a wicked game he plays, to make Arsenal dream of him...”
Newcastle did so well to get him and Bruno so early into their state-wealth epoch. If he keeps hitting numbers, he can be one of the best in the world, so Newcastle will need to improve alongside if they’re to have a chance of keeping him.
“A bit disappointed that you didn’t extend the Chris Isaak pun to it being a potentially wicked game coming up,” chides Kris Kuenssler-Mc Ilwain.
I love the extended mixes of 80s pop tunes.
“It refused to leave the milk crate at one point,” returns Chris Paraskevas. “This thing has been rampant for months and I finally cornered it in the thunderbox ... didn’t have any rat traps though, so tried to shepherd it back to the garden. Do I need this in my life on top of Jarred Gillett being referee?”
When I lived in a block of flats, our neighbours had rat, one died, and all of a sudden we had these hunky chunky flies in our bathroom. So I sprayed some spray before bed then, in the morning, it’s like the Somme in there.
Eddie Howe tells Sky that it was a tough call restoring Nick Pope in net, but here we are. Otherwise, it’s been a long week after last weekend’s gubbing – the team have had to re-emphasise their non-negotiables as nothing survived that beating. He knows Forest are good and good away, so there’s pressure, but this is also a chance.
Forest, on the other hand, will sit deep, Anderson and Dominguez protecting Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic, with Anthony Elanga, Morgan Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi primed to counter and seek high turnovers. They’ll target any space left by Newcastle’s flying full-backs and will, I imagine, fancy getting one-on-one with Dan Burn and Fabian Schar if at all possible.
So where is the game? Newcastle will, as anyone would, look to get Chris Alexander Isak into the game. He’s that modern rarity, a complete centre-forward able to come short or run in behind, and I also expect Livramento and Lewis Hall to supply width so that Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon can attack the box, with Joe Willock crashing it. That should be plenty of Forest to be getting on with, all the more so given Bruno Guimaraes will be scheming.
Email! “My buildup to the 1am kick-off was going smoothly (even found a weird zen and was genuinely looking forward to this Premier League ‘cracker’)” begins Chris Paraskevas, “until I heard a large *thud* on the back porch. I’ve spent the last 1.5 hours chasing a bush rat around the house, trying to lure it out with sliced cheese. All I wanted was my durry, a can of Pasito and blissful ignorance of our biennial Cup Final doom spiral. Bad omens all around.”
Photos or it didn’t happen.
What could possibly go wrong?
Also going on…
Daniel Sturridge isn’t staying long. He won’t feel the benefit!
Today is a big day for Elliot Anderson, a local boy and lifelong fan reluctantly sold by Newcastle to satisfy PSR – say, real nice sport we’ve got here – now excelling at Forest. I’ve really enjoyed his work this season – he’s a proper midfielder in that he plays in the middle of the field with none of your attacking and defensive prefixes excuses. It’ll never catch on.
As for Forest, Danilo is, as discussed, on the bench after going off in last weekend’s defeat at Fulham, with Callum Hudson-Odoi coming in, while Nicolas Dominguez replaces Morato, the defender surplus to requirements given the change of system.
Eddie Howe makes three changes to the team clattered at Manchester City last weekend. In net, Nick Pope is granted a first start since the start of December, replacing Martin Dubravka, while Kieran Tripper and Sandro Tonali – the latter having not trained this week – drop to the bench, Tino Livramento in for the former and Lewis Miley, making his first start of the season, the latter.
But before that, here’s Nuno. They decided it wasn’t “the right moment” for Danilo to return from injury – he needs more time. Otherwise, the Premier League is difficult and Newcastle are good; you always need to look at what your opponent brings to the table and set up accordingly, hence the change from 3-5-2 to 4-2-3-1. He’s hoping for another Chris Wood hat-trick, as happened in this fixture last season.
I’ll write these down, then we’ll wonder what they might mean.
Teams!
Newcastle United (4-3-3): Pope; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Guimaraes, Miley, Willock; Murphy, Isak, Gordon. Subs: Dubravka, Trippier, Tonali, Wilson, Barnes, Targett, Krafth, Osula, Longstaff.
Nottingham Forest (4-2-3-1): Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Anderson, Dominguez; Elanga, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi; Wood. Subs: Hennessey, Morato, Sangare, Awoniyi, Toffolo, Moreno, Silva, Yates, Sosa.
Referee: Jared Gillett (Gold Coast, Australia)
Preamble
The standard of technical ability among footballers has never been higher: the defenders have feet, the destroyers have feet and goodness us, even some of the keepers have feet. It’s not a small but disconcerting.
Consequently, we’re seeing a change in how the game operates, and the two sides we’ll enjoy this afternoon are fine examples of it. There is, perhaps, no team in the country more physical than Newcastle – especially at home. They may play well, they may play badly; they may win, they may lose; but no side takes anything away from St James’ Park without enduring intense pain and suffering.
Forest, meanwhile, are enjoying their best season in a generation, success founded on a pair of monstrous centre-backs; a good, honest, old-fashioned, traditional, retro, English number nine, except he’s a New Zealander who wears number 11; and in between them, a midfield of presence and pace, primed to streak forward the moment opportunity presents itself.
And when, to that, you add the touch that is now almost a given, along with the battle for a Champions League spot that would change plenty for both clubs, you have the makings of a very serious scuffle. This should be excellent.
Kick-off: 2pm GMT
