The fantasy train rolls on at full speed this afternoon as two more matches look to spoil or add a little more delight to your Sunday roast. Newcastle get the first chance to invite a team to St. James’ Park since their return to the Premier League and good friends Mark Hughes and Sir Alex Ferguson get to duke it out on the turf once more.
The news from Newcastle is that Chris Hughton keeps faith with his XI that lost to Man United on Monday as Peter Lovenkrands is only fit enough to make the bench. Kevin McDonald meanwhile makes one [enforced] change as Steven Ireland is drafted in to make his debut as a direct replacement for the departed James Milner. The full teams are as follows…
Newcastle XI: Harper; Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Enrique; Routledge, Barton, Smith, Gutierrez; Nolan; Carroll
Aston Villa XI: Friedel; L. Young, Clark, Dunne, Warnock; Albrighton, Ireland, Petrov, Downing; A. Young; Carew
More than a few other news sources have picked up on the news that Wayne Rooney looks like he has been left behind in Manchester this weekend, so the onus may very well be on Dimitar Berbatov to lead the line and carry Manchester United later today – is he up to the job? We’ll know the situation for certain in just a few hours time.
As usual you can join the Dugout Discussion in our chat room this afternoon if that takes your fancy.