Newcastle United Vs Wolves Preview

Even I feel exhausted and all I’m doing is watching the games and scribbling about them on here.

So no surprise that our thin squad is feeling the strain, quite literally, as we run for the finish line.

With the FA Cup suddenly front and center in our thoughts, you’d almost forgive the lads a couple of shonky league performances, but even if he has to make changes, I’m confident Gary will have a plan for Saturday and they’ll give their all to try and execute.

That’s just become the norm lately. Long may it continue.

Newcastle

This is the toughest moment in Eddie Howe’s tenure at St. James’ Park. With the team down in 10th and decimated by injury, they’re someway off the barnstorming mavericks that swept nearly everyone aside last season.

It was always possible they’d struggle to keep that high octane football going under the strain of Champions League football and the demands across all the domestic competitions – and so it’s proved.

On the plus side, they’re still in the FA Cup themselves after despatching Blackburn on penalties, but they’ve got the tie nobody wanted against Man City so even that now looks like curtains unless they can rediscover top form.

What constitutes success for them from this position?

I guess some form of European football – top six is looking a stretch so it might be Conference League or bust – would give them something to get their teeth into next season when they regroup and go again.

If I were them, I’d stick with Eddie because at their best, which we saw some of earlier in the season, they’re one of the most devastating sides around. Starting again with a new manager would probably mean taking the longer road to success.

Wolves

If we’re lucky it will only be Hwang missing from the starting XI you’d probably expect to see below and we have an obvious replacement there in the form of Bellegarde.

Doyle, Santi Bueno, Traore and Doc all did well the other night so it wouldn’t upset me at all if any were in the team here.

With Hwang joining Cunha on the treatment table the only attacking thrust we have from the bench is Nathan Fraser and I suspect he’s going to see minutes here, maybe even from the start. Good luck to him.

After this one the games are all spaced a week apart in March so that should offer some respite and minimise the risk of further injuries.

Predictions

Well done to t’OM, London Wolves Loyal and vicsmith who all got the 1-0 scoreline correct against Sheffield United last weekend.

I don’t want to be predicting a loss but I think this is a tough ask after putting so much into the Brighton game. On the other hand, Newcastle haven’t been going so well lately and home wins have been harder to come by. I’ll go for an entertaining 2-2, which would be another fantastic result.

As always, if you’d like to join in with the Prediction League this season, it’s simple – just leave your prediction in the comment section below using the boxes provided. Then repeat for every preview article throughout the season, making sure you always use the same email address to make your prediction. Your email is what ties you to your overall score.

Up The Wolves!