Saturday 3pm @ Vicarage Road Newcastle are set to recall striker Salomon Rondon and midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is available after recovering from a thigh problem. Defender Ciaran Clark and goalkeeper Karl Darlow remain sidelined, while South Korea international Ki Sung-yueng is away on international duty. Weather report - look at the sky... Reasons for positivity... Watford have won four of their last five Premier League meetings with Newcastle, after failing to win any of their first four against the Magpies in the competition (D2, L2). Newcastle have never won a top-flight game away to the Hornets, losing four and drawing four matches in either the Premier League or First Division. Newcastle have lost their last three games at Vicarage Road in all competitions. After winning all three games in November, the Magpies have claimed just one win from six matches in December (D2, L3). Newcastle have failed to score in eight of their 19 league games this term, and have netted just 14 times in total - only Huddersfield (12) have scored fewer. All four of their league wins this season have been by single-goal margins (1-0 or 2-1). Their last victory by a bigger margin was 3-0 against Chelsea on the final day of last season. Newcastle's opponents have not received a red card in any of the Magpies' last 148 Premier League matches. They have themselves received 18 red cards in this period. Did I say positivity? I meant we are ****ed.... Going with Jim on this one 3-1 to the lads because why the **** not, you can't be wrong all the time
I'm going for more dodgy decisions That will shaft us Seems very strange that Rodger East's last game for us was Watford away last season Same as the ref on boxing day with his last game for us being Liverpool away last season There is a distinct pattern emerging from the PGMOL in appointing these refs
Our supreme alien overlords are going to come down mid-match and the game will be called off? So predictable.
This game is made for Albert Bennett, however I'd feel more comfortable if it was Willie Penman alongside him. Bennett is always at his best when Stan Anderson and Dick Keith operate together with Willie Penman in the hole.
12Dubravka 22Yedlin 6Lascelles 18Fernandez 3Dummett 11Ritchie 14Hayden 10Diamé 30Atsu 17Pérez 9Rondón Substitutes 5Schär 7Murphy 8Shelvey 13Muto 19Manquillo 21Joselu 41Woodman
Interesting today that for all the rhetoric about spending money, Watford have hardly been throwing billions around yet have a good scouting set-up, attack in mind and find/buy players you've just never heard of. It's a model that really puts the Rafa side of NUFC under the microscope, for me. Too much of the time our manager stands by those who carry out orders rather than looking for modern footballers. Perez, Diame, Ritchie racking up this number of appearances highlights the problems of Benitez - the fact he's after another winger, despite buying Ritchie, Murphy, Atsu and loaning Kenedy tells me there's something not right with either Bentiez's eye for a player, or Nickson's, or the scouting network. Talk of resting players, yet Hayden and Lascelles play today instead of Longstaff and Schar. I know Rafa's great for the community and is a top bloke, but as a manager I'm too often looking at it with a raised eyebrow. Few managers would take a 4-0 pasting, cite defensive mistakes, then pick the exact same ****ing players. Pretty scandalously bad selection, all things considered.
