Newcastle vs Hull - Team News, Match Preview & Likely Line-Ups

After finally getting back down to club football last weekend, this weekend sees a newly promoted Hull City make the trip north to Newcastle ahead of Saturday's 3 pm Kick off at St James Park. I will be taking a look at any news ahead of the game and trying to work out likely starting line-ups and formations.

Hull City

As a newly promoted team, Hull City must have been hoping for an easier start than an away draw to Chelsea. Inevitably this game ended in defeat for the Tigers but it was a strong showing nonetheless. Some very astute signings throughout the transfer window and also a selling off of some of the squad players has left Steve Bruce with a competitive squad. Most pundits suggest Hull City are in for a classic long and hard season as a newly promoted team. I think they have certainly shown enough in their first four league games to illustrate they are in with a fighting chance of retaining Premier League status come May 2014. After the tough start away in London, Hull welcomed a Norwich City side to East Yorkshire. A lot of people were expecting good things from Norwich this season and for Hull to beat them 1-0 in a battling display certainly raised a few eyebrows. Another inevitably tricky away game against Manchester City saw the Tigers surrender in a 2-0 defeat, with the scoreline perhaps not reflecting the chances Hull created. Following this up with a home draw against fellow newcomers Cardiff last weekend was perhaps disappointing as Hull probably should have won the game. I think most Hull City fans will be quietly pleased with their team's start. They may be hoping that the side can prove to have a more proficient attacking edge than it has shown in the opening four games but this is probably the same as how a lot of Newcastle fans feel too. In terms of selection it seems as though Steve Bruce has a number of injuries to plan around. Two fresh concerns for Bruce will be the absences of both club captain Koren with a broken bone in his foot and also the vastly experienced Figueroa who has been granted compassionate leave. Steve Bruce returns to the North East looking for his team's first away goal and point of the season. He is likely to stick with the 4-4-1-1 balanced tactics he has employed previously with George Boyd perhaps the most likely to benefit from Koren's absence.

Newcastle

After a start to the season you may find hard to pigeon-hole, Newcastle United seem to be heading into this game amid a bout of positivity. Memories of the fateful trip to Manchester City are slowly receding to the back of the mind and recent performances are showing tactical progression. It's quite often a classic cliche in football but it is amazing what a win can do. The negativity has dispersed to a degree since the surprise win away to Aston Villa but its undoubtedly still lurking, just out of sight for now. Saturday sees a real opportunity for Newcastle to set a marker for the season with a home tie against a depleted Hull City side. Home fans will be hoping for a high tempo showing especially in the early stages, something Newcastle started to show last weekend. Further evidence as to whether Newcastle's playing style is in fact progressing will be on show. The fans will be in full voice for this one and you would imagine a good early showing could really build up the atmosphere. Steve Bruce will most likely be hoping for the opposite. Newcastle go in search of their third successive Premier League win something they haven't managed since 'that' run of six wins in April 2012. They will need to improve their goal scoring form at St James Park for this to happen though with the Magpies scoring one solitary goal in the last 5 home games. For Newcastle there are also a couple of injury niggles. Long term casualty Ryan Taylor is out for the season while Jonas Gutierrez, Gabby Obertan, Mike Williamson, Shola Ameobi and Steven Taylor are also expected to miss out. Cheick Tiote is surely eager to get back into the side although many would argue Anita has done enough to keep his place. Yohan Cabaye is likely to start his first home game too. Fans will be hoping that Alan Pardew sticks to the favoured 4-3-3 formation. Likely Line-UpsHull City: McGregor, Rosenior, Chester, Davies, Elmohamady; Aluko, Huddlestone, Livermore, Brady; Boyd; Sagbo. Deployed as a 4-4-1-1 Newcastle: Krul, Debuchy, Coloccini, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon; Anita, Sissoko, Cabaye; Ben Arfa, Cisse, Remy. €“ Deployed as a 4-3-3 Match Prediction With Hull City missing a couple of key players and Newcastle coming into this game with a modicum of positivity I feel the home team will have just too much for the Tigers. I think they Key man for Hull will be Huddlestone, he could really impact the game from Hull's engine room. Similarly for Newcastle the performance of Hatem Ben Arfa will once again be key, if he is in the mood most defences struggle to deal with him. I'm going for a 2-0 home win. What do you all think? What team/formation should each team start with? and most importantly who will win? source: The Guardian