- With the Manchester teams and Chelsea the next three fixtures, Demba Ba won’t be celebrating another hat trick anytime soon.
Not long ago, Newcastle United found itself relegated to the Championship and Mike Ashley couldn’t pay someone to take the team off his hands. (Ok, that’s going a bit far.) Yet now the Magpies find themselves in third, one off the pace from Manchester United. For a few hours on Saturday, they even occupied second place. The team remains unbeaten in the league. In what reality does this make sense?
Three fixtures immediately after the international break will determine whether Toon are in the top four to stay or have been living in a boom-style bubble. If I had to bet–and I think I may check a betting site to see if I can put some money on this–the latter will prove true and they won’t get a point of the next 9. The bubble won’t simply pop, it will explode.
Newcastle are about to get their asses handed to them in swift fashion. Thus far, they’ve played three teams in the top half of the table, draws with Spurs, Aston Villa and a depleted Arsenal side even before it went down to 10 men. Their next three matches are the Manchester teams away, followed by Chelsea at St. James Park, and they no longer have Joey Barton to kickstart a red card bonanza. When facing Chelsea is your best chance of getting a point–as in singular, one–you know you’re in trouble.
Newcastle is enjoying an 11-match unbeaten run in the league, equaling its best-ever unbeaten run. Manchester City will see to it that the run ends, however. And City will very possibly execute this dreamcrusher by a mega-goalfest margin, as is their wont.
If Newcastle can make it through the Manchester City-Manchester United-Chelsea gauntlet even relatively unscathed, they will have done much to earn their position. (And I will have lost that money, wiping egg off my face as I await the hit squad sent out by the Toon Army.)
Newcastle did well to strengthen the team with Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye, especially given the departures of former captain Kevin Nolan, José Enrique and Barton. Ba scored a hat trick against Stoke, taking his league tally to 8. Unfortunately for the Tyneside faithful, Cabaye and Sylvain Marveaux picked up injuries in Saturday’s match against Everton, and now must keep Cheik Tiote company on the sidelines.
Central defender Steven Taylor and rest of the back four have only conceded 8 goals in league play. However, in the Carling Cup, fielding mostly first teamers, they conceded 8 in three matches against lowly Scunthorpe, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn. They may very likely concede 8 to City and Manchester United alone.
Newcastle sit three points above Chelsea and Tottenham and six over Liverpool and Arsenal. Taking none from 9 could see them in an entirely new spot in the table. Liverpool will be waiting for their turn to inflict some pain, as well. When it gets to the halfway mark and Newcastle has faced everyone in the top half of the table, we’ll have a better idea of bubbles and burstings.
