It has been a couple of seasons since we played The Toon and I must admit I have always looked forward to playing against them. Maybe it is because we usually win easily however things might be different this year.
Their return to the Premier League has been quite strong however their crazy owner decided to fire the manager that was loved by the fans and the players. Alan Pardew was given a 5 1/2 year contract earlier this week so we need to be weary of the “new boss effect” as players might want to impress him.
Steven Gerrard and Daniel Agger will not feature as they are not ready yet however Fernando Torres should return to the starting lineup after missing Monday’s game due to the birth of his son. I think Roy will stick with the side that beat Aston Villa on Monday with Fernando Torres replacing Ryan Babel.
Projected lineup:
Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Martin Skrtel, Paul Konchesky, Lucas Leiva, Raul Meireles, Dirk Kuyt, Maxi Rodriguez, David Ngog, Fernando Torres
Kick off is at 5:30PM GMT
Follow on Twitter @empireofthekop
Unfortunately your prediction is probably accurate. With a 4222/442, I’d prefer to see us go with;
Reina/ Johnson-Kyrgiakos-Skrtel-Aurelio/ Babel-Lucas-Meireles-Jovanovich/ Ngog-Torres.
Still not buying into the qualities of Maxi or Kuyt…
i think you are right about the formation. just, i would start babel instead of kuyt for tomorrow’s game. babel deserves some games in a row. last monday’s performance shows that he is willing to play again. unfortunately mr. consistancy (kuyt) wasn’t that much consistant last monday. to be fair to him maybe it’s not his position too.