Newcastle Utd Vs Wolves Preview
Apart from the result, the thing I enjoyed most about the Spurs game was some of the high pressing we saw from Wolves in the second half.
In particular, the passage of play that saw Raul, Neves and Moutinho swarm to eventually regain the ball and put Matheus Cunha in for what should have been his first goal for the club.
It’s that type of front-foot aggression that’s been sorely lacking for years now and goes a long way to explain our woeful goalscoring record.
We signed players in January to improve our pressing so it should be happening more often.
We’ll certainly need to display similar enthusiasm on Sunday to avoid getting swept away.
Newcastle
It doesn’t take a lot to turn a brilliant season sour and if the Magpies were to finish outside of the European places it would feel like a serious disappointment given their steep upward trajectory in the last 12 months.
I thought they did reasonably well in the League Cup final but shipped a couple of cheap goals and that made it easier for Man Utd to just absorb their pressure and see out the game.
Earlier in the campaign they weren’t conceding any goals and were finding it a lot easier to put the ball in the net themselves. They’ve been struggling at both ends in recent weeks, which is why they’ve been getting edged out.
They had enough of the game in recent defeats to Liverpool and Man City to have collected results so will feel if they can apply a similar performance in their next two (with a visit to Forest next week) they’ll get a positive return.
They’ve only lost once in 12 home games so far but have only managed one victory in their last seven league matches. That record must improve if they’re to bring European football back to St. James’ Park.
Wolves
Will Julen Lopetegui reward the substitutes that helped turn the game in our favour last weekend?
And would he even consider persisting with a back three? Jonny and Semedo certainly looked more comfortable with the extra body covering their tracks.
Raul, Traore and Moutinho all had a positive impact and showed the requisite enthusiasm, fight and will to win. In that respect I think Nunes in particular is lucky if he keeps his place. He has to show more.
We haven’t seen much of João Gomes or Daniel Podence lately, but as we saw from Pedro Neto’s sudden appearance against Spurs, the manager isn’t afraid to shake things up. Anyone could start or drop out.
Predictions
Well done to Matt Cook, vicsmith, St.Kitts Wolves and Ash K for all scoring maximum with a spot on prediction last time out.
Rich now has a four-point lead at the top of the overall table at the end of Gameweek 26.
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.
You can read my prediction for the game in the comment section below.
Up The Wolves!