Alex Reid looks at whether the once ever-present appearance of English clubs in the later stages of the Champions League is set to become a thing of the past
Craig Dobson looks at QPR's decision to sack Neil Warnock and replace him with Mark Hughes
Dave Hughes tells us about his sporting hero, Wes Morgan
Craig Dobson looks at Manchester United's recent stutter against Blackburn Rovers and the weaknesses within their side
Welcome to the first edition of ‘Game of the Week’ in 2012! Our game this week is the clash between Newcastle United and Queen’s Park Rangers at the Sports Direct Arena (or St James’ Park to the football fans among you…) All eyes will be on QPR’s new manager Mark Hughes who took over this week in the wake of the controversial sacking of Neil Warnock. _____________________________________________________________________
Form
The Toon have slipped a little from their excellent start to the season, now sitting in 7th place. Defeats to mid-table sides West Brom and Norwich in the run-up to Christmas will have hurt manager Alan Pardew’s pride as he attempted to continue Newcastle’s excellent early season form. That said, the Magpies are unbeaten in 2012, winning both games of the new year including a thumping 3-0 win at home to title contenders Manchester United. With only two of their next eight games being top-6 opposition, Pardew’s men will be looking to continue their 2012 form as long as possible.
QPR’s poor run of form ultimately cost manager Neil Warnock his job this week as the London side find themselves perching precariously in 17th place, just one point above the relegation zone. It has been a spectacular fall from a side that sat in 9th place less than two months ago. With just two points from a possible twenty-four since the end of November, Mark Hughes will have a difficult job on his hands to keep QPR out of a prolonged relegation scrap
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Team News
Newcastle will be without prolific top scorer Demba Ba who is away with Senegal at the African Cup of Nations. Midfielder Cheick Tiote is also away at the competition. Alan Pardew also has a number of injuries in the attacking department with Peter Lovenkrands, Nile Ranger and Sammy Ameobi all ruled out.
Mark Hughes also finds his squad depleted by the African Cup of Nations with both Adel Taarabt and Armand Traore away representing their country in the completion. Controversial midfielder Joey Barton is still suspended while Alejandro Faurlin remains a long-term casualty.
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Player Watch
Newcastle United – Yohan Cabaye An excellent piece of business by Newcastle during the summer, the acquisition of Cabaye is one of the key reasons for their early season success. With Ba unavailable and limited options up front, Pardew will be looking for his playmaker to be a big influence on Sunday’s game
QPR – Heidar Helguson An excellent run of form between the end of October and the beginning of December saw Helguson bag 6 goals in 7 games. But since his form has dried up as his side have plummeted down the table. Hughes will need him to recover his form if the London side want to avoid being dragged into a relegation scrap.
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Key Stat
Demba Ba’s 15 goals in 19 games account for 60% of all goals scored by Newcastle this season. With a number of other forward players injured, his absence could be a big blow to Alan Pardew.
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Predictions
After the somewhat inconsistent prediction performances from The Yorker sports team in the first half of the season I have decided that everyone should start with a clean slate and there will be no mocking of my fellow writers’ efforts this week. This has nothing at all to do with everyone predicting a correct result in the Man City win over Arsenal in the last edition of this feature before Christmas; that is everyone except me. Oh and Sam Holloway obviously.
This week I am going to go for a draw. Newcastle will definitely struggle for firepower with Ba out of the side and QPR will have the morale boost of a fresh and ambitious manager taking over. I’m going for 1-1.
James Tompkinson says… 2-0 Newcastle
Aimee Howarth says… 2-1 Newcastle
Stephen Puddicombe says… 1-1
Craig Dobson says… 1-1
Jason Rose says… 3-1 Newcastle
Paul Shercliff says… 3-0 Newcastle
Sam Holloway says… 2-1 Newcastle
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