Hull Will Compound Newcastle Fears At St. James

Under-fire Alan Pardew will be looking to prove a point tomorrow (20th September) as his Newcastle side host Hull City and Steve Bruce, the man who is strongly tipped to replace the 53-year-old should he be shown the door at St. James Park.

Former Charlton Athletic man Pardew has faced the wrath of Toon supporters everywhere after a litany of below-par performances in winnable matches have seen the North East club sink to the foot of the Premier League table. A 2-0 away defeat at Manchester City was followed by a goalless draw away to surprise packages Aston Villa. The magpies were then pegged back to 3-3 in the 90th minute by a Wilfried Zaha strike at home to Crystal Palace before the misery of fans was compounded with last weekend`s 4-0 embarrassment at the hands of Pardew`s former club Southampton. The result mimicked Newcastle`s 2013-14 capitulation at St. Mary`s.

Tenth placed Hull City have been solid without setting the league alight. An opening day 1-0 victory at Queens Park Rangers saw the Tigers start as they mean to go on though Europa League duties and an eventual early exit has seen the club plateau. A `pathetic` 2-1 defeat away to Aston Villa was book-ended between two bore draws with fellow mid-table rivals Stoke City (1-1) and West Ham (2-2). A game against under-pressure United in front of their cannibalistic home fans, then, the perfect time to get their season back on track.

Not so according to bookmakers bet365 and Betvictor who make Newcastle the 5/4 favourites to capture their first win of their campaign and halt the anvil above Pardew`s head. An away win must be good value with Hull 11/4 (betfred, Totesport) to send the home side`s season into a tailspin. Twelve to five (boylesports, ladbrokes) says the encounter will end a tie.

Whilst City`s Tyneside signing Hatem Ben Arfa is ineligible for the clash against his former side, Bruce`s Hull will be able to call upon record transfer Abel Hernandez and Southampton loanee Gaston Ramirez who is set to make his debut for the Humberside club.

Ten million pound transfer Hernandez made himself an instant hit at the KC Stadium by grabbing the opening goal in his first appearance for his new side in their 2-2 draw against West Ham United on Monday. All was not well, however, as the Uruguayan was replaced with ten minutes to go after being left exhausted by the toils of the game, though he is expected to start once again. betfair are offering odds of 7/2 on the former Palermo man scoring at any time. A generous 18/1 (boylesports) says he can`t bag more than two.

The Magpies will be buoyed by the return of Cheick Tiote to the starting line-up after reappearing as a half-time substitute in last week`s Hampshire horror show. The Ivory Coast international also played in his country`s 6th September 2-1 win over Sierra Leone. The defensive midfielder has returned to full fitness after injuring a hamstring in a pre-season friendly at Sheffield Wednesday.

Other than the promising re-emergence of Tiote, injuries have wiped out a number of key players with Pardew`s men looking visibly deficient in squad depth. Strikers Papiss Cisse and Siem De Jong are both out, despite the former returning to training on Monday. As a result, goalless Emmanuel Riviere will continue to lead the line. Attack-minded youngster Rolando Aarons is also sidelined (Hamstring).

Defensively full-backs Davide Santon and Ryan Taylor are both unavailable and with Hull being one of only five teams to score in every one of their first four Premier League matches, you have to worry for the boys in black and white. Pardew is now 4/11 with Skybet to be the next manager to receive his P45.

Go To bet365

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19/09/2014     © Frixo 2026