Newcastle 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
The late kick off of the opening day saw last year's 5th placed team hosting the 4th placed team in a match that on paper looked the best of the first days match ups. Sadly however the match took a while to really get going with the first 20 or so minutes being very stop start as Martin Atkinson booked 3 players in the space of 5 minutes in the opening half. Despite the poor nature of the half Spurs seemed the team more likely to scoring hitting the wood work twice with the only real attempts of note.
Despite being a slow burner the match came alive in the second half after Demba Ba scored his first goal for the club after a lengthy dry spell. It wasn't long however until Jermain Defoe equalised for Spurs after a poachers finish. Spurs sadly fell asleep almost immediately after equalising and as Hatem Ben Arfa was in the penalty area he was stupidly fouled by Dutchman Rafael Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon who gave away a penalty that Ben Arfa put away himself (after a small argument with Ba about who was going to take the penalty).
Also during the match Alan Pardew was sent to the stands after pushing one of the linesmen who made a decision that Pardew didn't agree with. I imagine that Pardew will have to suffer a touchline ban though hopefully what he takes from the match out weighs the penalty. His team didn't look as good as they did at times last season, though Ba's goal will hopefully help him get back to the form that saw him making a name for himself as one of Newcastle's key players. Whilst they didn't look great it is a very valuable 3 points over a serious rival and this is the sort of thing Newcastle need, wins over other top teams.
Andre Villas-Boas first competitive fixture in charge of Spurs after taking over from Harry Redknapp sadly didn't see Spurs playing to their best. A number of injuries left their front line very weak with only Jermain Defoe and teenager Harry Kane fit enough to play and this certainly didn't help. Though the loss falls squarely on the heads of Rafael Van Der Vaart and Aaron Lennon who had no reason to foul Ben Arfa in the penalty. Hopefully Spurs will be able to get their game faces on for their next fixture.
Showing posts with label Newcastle v Tottenham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Newcastle v Tottenham. Show all posts
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-Predictions (Saturday)
Saturday 18th August
Arsenal V Sunderland (15:00)-Arsenal, playing for the first time since the transfer of Robin Van Persie to Manchester United may be expected to win here with relative ease, especially considering the transfer of players like Podolski however I can't help but think we may see a bit a shock here. I'll be betting on the draw here.
1-1
Fulham V Norwich (15:00)-Despite Fulham playing at home I'm going to favour the away win here. The signings of Snodgrass and Turner will really bulk up the Norwich line up. Whilst Fulham have added the very good Hugo Rodellaga I expect he will take several weeks to get into the full swing of things.
1-2
QPR V Swansea (15:00)-Swansea have lost not only their manager but also their talisman in Joe Allen, they have however managed to acquire an extremely talented player in Michu. Sadly for Swansea however I can't see them getting anything from this one. The QPR squad has been strengthened massively since the end of last season and with this in mind I'll be backing QPR.
2-0
Reading V Stoke (15:00)-Going into this bout it could, genuinely a very close match, however with Pogrebnyak now amongst the Reading squad it's almost impossible to bet against Reading. Stoke are never an easy team to beat though they are a flawed tea.
2-1
West Brom V Liverpool (15:00)-Liverpool have arguably the most frustrating team for any fans in recent years as their team repeatedly fall short of expectation. With Bredan Rodgers in charge I know some people are massively excited, sadly however Rodgers seems to have done the same thing Kenny Dalglish did, he's over paid for players. Thankfully for Liverpool here West Brom haven't really improved their squad over Summer and I think Liverpool's players will get up for Rodger's first Premier League game in charge.
0-2
West Ham V Aston Villa (15:00)-West Ham's return to the Premier League seems to have been met by a lot of people predicting them to go down. Whilst they have improved their squad with Modibo Maïga and the re-signing of James Collins they may not have improved quite enough. Villa, a team I'd have predicted to struggle have added some brilliant players and I whilst they may not click straight away they will be a very good team when they start to click.
1-1
Newcastle V Tottenham (17:30)-The late kick off sees last years 4th placed team playing the 5th placed team in what promising to be a very interesting match up. Going into this match up you have to have a lot of questions-how will Spurs do with Harry and how will they do with Villas-Boas? How does Anita fit into Newcastle? This is by far the stand out match of the day and I expect it to live up to expectation
2-3
Arsenal V Sunderland (15:00)-Arsenal, playing for the first time since the transfer of Robin Van Persie to Manchester United may be expected to win here with relative ease, especially considering the transfer of players like Podolski however I can't help but think we may see a bit a shock here. I'll be betting on the draw here.
1-1
Fulham V Norwich (15:00)-Despite Fulham playing at home I'm going to favour the away win here. The signings of Snodgrass and Turner will really bulk up the Norwich line up. Whilst Fulham have added the very good Hugo Rodellaga I expect he will take several weeks to get into the full swing of things.
1-2
QPR V Swansea (15:00)-Swansea have lost not only their manager but also their talisman in Joe Allen, they have however managed to acquire an extremely talented player in Michu. Sadly for Swansea however I can't see them getting anything from this one. The QPR squad has been strengthened massively since the end of last season and with this in mind I'll be backing QPR.
2-0
Reading V Stoke (15:00)-Going into this bout it could, genuinely a very close match, however with Pogrebnyak now amongst the Reading squad it's almost impossible to bet against Reading. Stoke are never an easy team to beat though they are a flawed tea.
2-1
West Brom V Liverpool (15:00)-Liverpool have arguably the most frustrating team for any fans in recent years as their team repeatedly fall short of expectation. With Bredan Rodgers in charge I know some people are massively excited, sadly however Rodgers seems to have done the same thing Kenny Dalglish did, he's over paid for players. Thankfully for Liverpool here West Brom haven't really improved their squad over Summer and I think Liverpool's players will get up for Rodger's first Premier League game in charge.
0-2
West Ham V Aston Villa (15:00)-West Ham's return to the Premier League seems to have been met by a lot of people predicting them to go down. Whilst they have improved their squad with Modibo Maïga and the re-signing of James Collins they may not have improved quite enough. Villa, a team I'd have predicted to struggle have added some brilliant players and I whilst they may not click straight away they will be a very good team when they start to click.
1-1
Newcastle V Tottenham (17:30)-The late kick off sees last years 4th placed team playing the 5th placed team in what promising to be a very interesting match up. Going into this match up you have to have a lot of questions-how will Spurs do with Harry and how will they do with Villas-Boas? How does Anita fit into Newcastle? This is by far the stand out match of the day and I expect it to live up to expectation
2-3
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