The Magpies will be hoping for some home comforts when they welcome the Carling Cup holders to St James’ for its penultimate game of the season.
After the disappointment of Anfield and with Chelsea on the horizon, the Toon will be hoping for maximum points in this one to rubber stamp their Premier League status.
Much like the hosts, the visitors too are just about safe from the drop. But with only a four point buffer, any sort of return from this game would help ease the slight relegation worries.
Were McLeish’s men to take all three points they’d go ahead of the Newcastle in the table, which would ensure a sweet return to the North East for a number of former players in the Blues’ Side.
Last Meeting- 15th Feb 2011- Birmingham 0-2 Newcastle
The day after Valentine’s Day, there was plenty of love in the air for the Geordie following as the Magpies notched up their first win in six matches.
Goals in each half from Peter Lovenkrands and Leon Best ensured all 3 points for Pardew’s men and even had some quarters talking about Europe.
Jonas Gutierrez was the star man of the evening in a game which Birmingham never really got going.
Since then Newcastle have dropped out of European contention, whereas Birmingham have their tickets booked after cup success.
Form
With only 5 home victories to their name, Newcastle have one of the worst home winning ratios in the league; only Blackpool & Wigan have been less victorious. However impressive home performances against Man Utd and Wolves should help inspire confidence- providing the dreadful away displays at Liverpool, Villa & Blackpool are quickly forgotten about
Birmingham have only managed two victories on the road this season (versus Blackpool & West Ham) and with only 16 goals on their travels- don’t expect Barcelona style beauty.
They did have a decent April though, picking up 7 points out of a possible 15; with their only two losses coming against in-form Chelsea & Liverpool and they grabbed a valuable point against Wolves last time out.
Head to Head
Newcastle have the edge over Birmingham with 40 wins in the 105 meetings between the two sides, with the Brummies notching up 33.
They've met 11 times in the Premier League with Birmingham only managing one win over the Toon in that time, which came courtesy of a David Dunn goal in the 2003-2004 season.
Despite being unbeaten in 8 league games against their visitors, Newcastle were on the wrong end on a 5-1 cup thumping in between and will be hoping to avoid a repeat performance come Saturday.
Team News
Newcastle
With the likes on Ben Arfa, Gosling, Guthrie, Smith & Best all long term causalities- the Magpies will more than likely be unchanged from the side that faced Liverpool. Steven Taylor will be pushing for a starting berth after Mike Williamson’s injury during training (broken arm) and either Krul or Harper could end up between the sticks. It may well be the last time Cheik Tiote plays this season with the Ivorian precariously placed on 13 yellow cards. If he does reach 15 before the end of the campaign he’d be in line for a 3 game suspension which would carry on into next season, and so Pardew may well withdraw him from the firing line if he picks up a card on Saturday.
Birmingham
Former Striker Obafemi Martins underwent surgery on a stress fracture of his shin last week and will miss the game, as will Nikola Zigic who is still struggling with a hip injury. This will probably mean a starting role for ex-Sunderland man Kevin Phillips.
Influential midfielder Craig Gardner was sent off against Wolves and will be banned on Saturday with either Keith Fahey or Alexander Hleb likely replacements. Even though McLeish has played down the rift, there’s no confirmation of whether or not David Bentley will feature this time around after his exclusion from the matchday squad for the Wolves game.
Key Players
Kevin Nolan- With a real lack of cutting edge in the past few weeks, the Scouse skipper still remains Newcastle’s biggest goal threat. 12 league goals already this season makes him far and away the Toon’s leading scorer and his side will be heavily reliant on him once more. He played in the centre of the park against Liverpool and it’s up to Pardew to decide if he will be more effective there or as a second striker.
Seb Larsson- The man who nearly joined United in January has been excellent in the last few weeks and scored the equaliser in the last Sunday’s Midlands’ derby. Deadly with set pieces, Larsson offers a genuine creative outlet- something the home side seem to be sorely lacking.
Referee
Chris Foy will take charge of his fifth Newcastle match of the season and worryingly the Magpies have only won once while he was in charge. Last time the Scouser officiated on Tyneside he dismissed Ryan Taylor for a reckless tackle on Bolton’s Johan Elmander as the game finished up all square.
Taylor’s dismissal was one of 3 red cards he has dished out this season and with 82 yellow cards in 25 matches; don’t expect this match to be a booking free affair.
Probable Line Ups
Newcastle-(4-4-2)
Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Enrique, Barton, Tiote, Nolan, Gutierrez, Ameobi, Lovenkrands.
Birmingham- (4-4-2)
Foster, Carr, Johnson, Jiranek, Ridgewell, Bowyer, Ferguson, Fahey, Larsson, Phillips, Jerome.
The Magpies will be hoping for some home comforts when they welcome the Carling Cup holders to St James’ for its penultimate game of the season.
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