Newcastle v Bournemouth preview ahead of this FA Cup clash

Welcome to the Newcastle v Bournemouth preview.

Saturday 10th January and a 3pm kick-off.

Newcastle turn their attention to the FA Cup this weekend in a rare non-televised match against fellow Premier League side Bournemouth.

Three league wins in a row have eased the pressure on Eddie’s side.

Newcastle United finally climbing into the European places and this week sees a chance for us to have a right good go in both domestic trophies.

Form

The Toon have won their past three matches and four of their last six in all competitions. Wins have come against Fulham in the League Cup as well as Burnley, Palace and Leeds in the league. We also drew with Chelsea despite going 2-0 up in the first half and were desperately unlucky to go down 1-0 to Man United in a dominant performance. We’ve scored thirteen goals in these matches and conceded seven. A win this weekend would see us continue to battle on four fronts as we’re still in the League Cup and Champions League with key games coming up in both competitions this month.

Bournemouth have drawn three, lost two and won one of their last six matches. They beat Tottenham in midweek, lost to Arsenal and Brentford and drew with Man United, Burnley and Chelsea. They’ve scored thirteen goals and conceded sixteen. A win would keep their season alive, having been knocked out of the League Cup by Brentford in the second round.

Last time out

Newcastle hosted Leeds on Wednesday night and played out one of the games of the season in a match that had just about everything.

Leeds started the stronger of the two sides but had to wait until the thirty-first minute to take the lead when they were able to pounce on an uncharacteristic error from Malik Thiaw to open the scoring. Thankfully, the lead lasted just a few minutes as great work in the box by Gordon and Woltemade teed up Harvey Barnes to level the match. Just when it looked like the half-time break would see the scores even, Leeds were awarded a controversial penalty when Thiaw appeared to be pushed over in the box before the ball hit his hand, Leeds scored the penalty to huge consternation from the Geordie faithful who were then screaming for one of their own when Joelinton went down in the area on the stroke of half-time but the referee rightfully booked our midfielder for diving.

The second half saw no let up in the one-hundred mile an hour drama and was only ten minutes in when superb work from Miley allowed Bruno to flick the ball into the area for Joelinton to bury a header at the Leazes End. Newcastle looked the more likely winners at this point and were desperately unlucky to see the Leeds ‘keeper make two unbelievable saves in a goalmouth scramble from a corner. The pendulum once again swung Leeds’ way when a bad injury to Fabian Schar disrupted United’s rhythm and Leeds took full advantage to take a 3-2 lead with only eleven minutes to go. Just when it looked like the Toon would be lamenting misfortune, Eddie Howe’s team decided to unleash relentless attacking play and this was rewarded with a penalty in the last minute of normal time. My heart was in my mouth when Bruno stuttered his run up but thankfully was able to coolly send the ‘keeper the wrong way to seemingly gain a point from an enthralling encounter.

The Toon had other ideas and when the board went up showing ten minutes of injury time, the match was there to be won. When the clock reached an incredible one-hundred-and-two minutes, Sven Botman was wrestled in the box and Harvey Barnes ignored penalty claims to turn and fire home a winner to spark wild scenes of euphoria all around St James’ Park, in a fitting tribute to Kevin Keegan who was in all of our thoughts after making public his cancer diagnosis earlier in the day.

Bournemouth enjoyed late drama of their own on Wednesday night, scoring in the fifth minute of injury time to beat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2. Behind after five minutes, they battled back to lead at half-time. A late Spurs equaliser looked to have shared the points but, like the Toon, Bournemouth were not to be denied.

Stat attack!

-Toon have lost just one of their last six home matches with Bournemouth.

-NUFC and Bournemouth have been paired together twice previously in the FA Cup, the Toon won in 1973 but the cherries got the better of us after a replay in 1992.

-Newcastle are looking to win their third FA Cup third round tie in a row.

Memorable match

In 2018, Rafa Benitez and his Toon side were hoping for a win against Bournemouth to achieve back-to-back victories for the first time all season. Thankfully this was the match that striker Salomon Rondon decided to announce his arrival at St James’ Park with a match-winning display. The game was only seven minutes old when he fired in a loose ball at the back post. Even better was to come near the end of the half when Kennedy swung in a cross from the left and Rondon did his best Sir Les impression to smash a header into the top corner and put the Toon 2-0 up. Bournemouth were able to pull one back due to an assist from future Newcastle player Ryan Fraser but Rondon continued to terrorise the Bournemouth defence, forcing a number of fine saves and being desperately unlucky not to complete a hat-trick in a fine win for the Toon. Newcastle 2-1 Bournemouth.

Played for both

Christian Atsu made his Newcastle United debut in 2016 and was an integral part of the team that won the Championship under Rafa Benitez, who soon made his loan move from Chelsea permanent. He stayed at the Toon for five years, making over one-hundred appearances and scoring eight league goals. Previous to his time at NUFC, he was on loan for a season at Bournemouth but only made two League Cup appearances in a frustrating spell with the cherries. Sadly, 2023 brought the devastating news that Atsu had passed away in the aftermath of an earthquake in Turkey, leaving behind a wife and three young children. Rest In Peace.

Freddie Woodman played four league games for Steve Bruce at the start of the 21/22 season. Unfortunately, this coincided with three defeats and a draw with Woodman heavily criticised for his part in a 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford. He was demoted to the bench and then loaned to Bournemouth where he played just one match for the Cherries.

Aaron Ramsdale played for Bournemouth for three seasons from 2017 and was named supporters player of the year in 2000. He’s currently on loan at NUFC and has made seven appearances as he battles Nick Pope for a place in the starting line up.

Managers

Eddie Howe after a 4-3 victory over Leeds United:

“It’s difficult to sum it up in a few words. It was one of those classic games here where I don’t think we were at our best, but we showed great character, we kept fighting and always believed we’ve got goals in us. It turned our way at the end, which is a rare thing for us. We haven’t done it enough this season especially, we’ve gone the other way and lost points from late in the game so it’s great to go the other way today. It wasn’t a perfect performance, there’s stuff to reflect and improve, but the mentality is the key thing in everything and if you’re losing, you need that ‘never say die’ spirit, especially with the attacking players we’ve got. Great to see the substitutes come on and make a difference as well. That’s so pleasing for the squad strength and winning late gives everyone a lift. No Premier League game, as the table would show you, is easy this year and the win is a valuable result. Coming from behind, we haven’t done that this season yet so that’s a great thing to do. We have been on the receiving end a couple of times this season and it really hurt, so this is the better way to script it.”

Andoni Iraola after a 3-2 victory against Tottenham:

“Against big clubs, I think we’ve played really, really good first halves. And then it’s costing us to play the second half and to keep the same energy level, to keep our pressing level where it was and today it didn’t cost us. I think there have been two moments where we’ve shown big character because in the situation we were in, to concede basically the first chance after a deflection, you don’t want to start like this against Spurs. And I think after the goal, I think we reacted really well. We played a very good first half. Also when they scored the 2-2, the momentum was for them. And you have the sensation of thinking, okay, it’s happened again after a big effort, probably we are not going to win. To find the moment and the energy to play like we played the stoppage time, I think the 10 minutes we played of stoppage time, I think we played really well. I think it shows that the team has never given up.”

Charity

Newcastle United fans food bank will once again be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end and gratefully receiving food, money and toiletries for those in need. Of particular interest are non-perishable food and drink items (such as noodles, pasta, rice, canned food, soup, cereal, cordial, long life milk etc) as well as toiletries such as shower gel, shampoo, toothpaste and sanitary products. Please give whatever you can, any donation is very much appreciated.

For further info and/or to donate online go to Newcastle Foodbank

Prediction

With the games coming thick and fast, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Eddie Howe making wholesale changes for this one. We have a crucial semi-final just three days later and tough tests on the horizon in both the League as well as Europe. I’m expecting a close match and think it’ll go to extra time. Unfortunately, I think the Cherries may just want this one more and will squeeze into the next round. Newcastle 1-1 Bournemouth (1-2 after extra time).