Newcastle vs Stoke Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

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Haydn Cunningham Oct 22, 2015 @ 01:58 pm

Newcastle United came crashing back down to earth after their 6^th successive defeat in the Tynewear derby despite confidence soaring after hitting Norwich City for 6 the previous week. Stoke’s winning run also came to a halt as Watford came away from the Brittania Stadium with all 3 points.

The 6-2 victory over Norwich City was meant to be the turning point and the ‘start’ of Newcastle’s season after Steve McLaren stated the first 9 games were bizarrely an extended pre-season. The win over Norwich also highlighted that they still look weak in defence and it was a defensive error that ultimately cost them another defeat to their arch rivals. It is the worst ever run by any Newcastle side in the Tynewear derby and have also scored just 1 goal in over 10 hours against Sunderland. Fabricio Coloccini was sent off for blatantly shoving Steven Fletcher to the ground and the penalty was converted and with a man light, Newcastle ended up losing 3-0. McLaren believed with players now starting to return from injury they’d maintain an unbeaten run but this latest setback has put them below Sunderland and handed them their first win of the season.

Stoke City didn’t fare much better after a lacklustre defeat to Watford. In Mark Hughes 100^th game as manager of Stoke they enjoyed all of the possession but managed just 1 shot on target and lack a potent centre forward. Hughes will hope his side can maintain the winning run away from home after gaining 3 successive 1-0 victories on the road. The defeat dropped them into 14^th after victories for West Brom and Swansea saw them overtaken the Trotters whilst defeat to Watford also meant their opponents leapfrogged them in the process.

It is a fixture in which traditionally the home side comes out on top with 6 of the last 7 meetings seeing the home side taking all 3 points. Stoke have the unwanted record of creating the least amount of assists from open play as 5 of the 9 league goals they’ve scored this season have come from set pieces. Newcastle have the lowest amount of shots per game (9.4) on average at home in the Premier League. However, they scored with all 6 shots on target against Norwich but will find it tough against Stoke’s goalkeeper Jack Butland, who has made the 2^nd most number of saves this season (40).

Jack Colback has only just returned from injury but he was seen leaving the Stadium of Light on crutches after a hefty tackle with Lee Cattermole and would’ve missed the Stoke clash through suspension regardless. Geoff Cameron lasted just 9 minutes against Watford with a thigh injury and his replacement Marc Wilson was at fault for Watford’s 2^nd as he dwelt on possession and was subsequently punished. Eric Pieters received his 5^th yellow card of the season but will serve that midweek in the Capital One Cup.

Newcastle United

Stats: W-1 L-6 D-3

Recent Form – LDLWL

Stoke City

Stats: W-3 L-4 D-3

Recent Form - WWWWL

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Newcastle United (4-4-2) – Elliot, Janmaat, Lascelles, Mbemba, Haidara, Tiote, Anita, Sissoko, Wijnaldum, Perez, Mitrovic.   

Stoke City (4-4-1-1) – Butland, Johnson, Wollscheid, Wilson, Pieters, Adam, Whelan, Shaqiri, Arnautovic, Bojan, Diouf.

Injury List/Suspended Players

Newcastle United – Colback (sus), Coloccini (sus), Krul (inj), Obertan (inj), Darlow (inj), S.Taylor (inj), Riviere (inj).
Stoke City – Cameron (inj).

Newcastle v Stoke Head to Head

League Positions