Date: Saturday, November 23 Venue: St James' Park Kick-Off: 15:00 Can Newcastle extend their resurgent run of form with a win over Norwich on Saturday?
Team News
Newcastle will be without defender Mathieu Debuchy, who is serving a one-match suspension after accumulating five yellow cards. Fabricio Coloccini, Steven Taylor and Paul Dummett are back in contention however having resumed full training following respective injuries. Norwich will be without their record signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel due to a toe injury. Mark Bunn and Alexander Tettey also sit out, though Anthony Pilkington appears to have overcome his hamstring problem, and is back in the side. (BBC)
Key Stats
Newcastle have not conceded a goal in their last three league meetings with Norwich. Norwich haven't won at St James' Park since 1988 when Dale Gordon and Robert Fleck gave them a 2-0 victory. The Canaries have won just three of their 24 league matches away from home since Chris Hughton took charge. Loic Remy has scored seven goals in his last seven matches. He has scored 47% of his side's league goals this season - the highest proportion in the top flight.
After seeing off two of the big London powerhouses in Tottenham and Chelsea, Newcastle are walking on air as they head into this clash with Norwich City. Few would have expected Alan Pardew's men to have taken anything at all from those two encounters, yet they emerged victorious in both, putting their miserable derby defeat to Sunderland behind them. However, perhaps the optimism should be put on ice for the time being. Magpie fans will be only too aware that the last time their side won back-to-back in the league, they followed it up with defeat to Hull. This then is a potential banana skin for Alan Pardew's men, who will know their weekend opponents will be a tricky proposition. After being crushed 7-0 by Manchester City, Norwich responded and showed a great deal of character by impressively beating West Ham 3-1, which helped to ease some of the concerns over manager Chris Hughton's future. A point or more from this clash, followed by a win over Crystal Palace, should help to further consolidate his job, though another heavy defeat could tear open the seams. Norwich have conceded 15 goals in their last three games on the road, and the Canaries cannot afford another sap in morale in the crucial run-up to Christmas. The big concern for Norwich is who's going to put in the goals? The absence of record signing Ricky van Wolfswinkel is a blow, and you worry for them against Newcastle. 2-0
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
