Newcastle are still in search of their first win of the season and after Monday night’s defeat at Upton Park, the Geordie faithful’s confidence in a result this weekend is definitely fading.
On Saturday, Newcastle welcome Watford to St James’ Park, who have started the season brightly with one win and three draws in their opening five fixtures.
Ahead of the game, we caught up with Watford fan and editor of our sister site Read Watford, Sam Fribbins to get his insight into the fixture.
Would you take any Newcastle players at Watford? If so, who and why?
Of course – Newcastle have an array of talent in their squad, with which I am sure McClaren will surely get the best out of them. Players such as Coloccini are influential in defence, changing a game with one world-class tackle, as well as the likes of Moussa Sissoko who I liken to Yaya Toure, transitioning play from the defence into attack like it’s nothing. Though, if I have to pick one player it would be Wijnaldum due to that extra bit of class he has acquired to his game from the glimpses I’ve seen of him early on this season.
If you could place one player from Watford’s past into your current squad, who would it be and why?
John Barnes is one player I have always admired. Playing for Watford, he turned into the magical player he was always known to be when he played for Liverpool. He was known as the ‘jewel’ unearthed by Graham Taylor after he scored a remarkable 85 goals in 296 appearances, as well as possessing a great amount of pace and agility; a rarer attribute to have thirty years ago.
Are there any rising stars at Watford that we should be keeping an eye out for?
The Watford squad is probably the most talented we’ve had to date in our history, so there is a lot of young talent in our large squad. Craig Cathcart is coming into his own in the Premier League, alongside the extremely experienced Sebastian Prodl in Watford’s back-line. Odion Ighalo could technically be described as a ‘rising star’ though at the age of 26 he may be reaching his peak now instead. There are talented younger individuals in the squad who I firmly believe will make their mark as the season drags on, and the team suffers from more injuries, with the likes of Tommie Hoban and Obbi Oulare.
Tommie came through the ranks under Zola in the 2012/13 season when Watford narrowly missed out on automatic promotion, impressing for most of the season. The under-21 Ireland international is now set to make his mark in the Premier League in the next few years. Oulare is a strong, towering centre-forward, similar to Benteke and Lukaku. Bought for £6million from Club Brugge, the under-21 Belgian international has already been banging them in under Flores’ close eye in training sessions.
Who is your most important player?
Our most important player is still Troy Deeney since he is all you want as a club captain. During our manager exodus last year, Troy kept the dressing room together and the performances were still of a standard to keep Watford within the top 6 until Slavisa Jokanovic came to the club, eventually getting us promoted. He is a natural leader, and the last to clap the fans and walk into the dressing room. Already a Watford legend, Deeney formed a great partnership last season with Vydra and Odion Ighalo in the Championship, which seems to have been transferred into the Premier League. All Troy needs to do now is add goals to his Premier League game.
What do you reckon will be the key battle on Saturday?
Since I think Newcastle will dominate large parts of the game, whilst we play on the counter, Wijnaldum and Prodl will be interesting. Wijnaldum, as you know, is a top quality player with skill, pace and power, so Prodl will have to keep up his great form to deny the Netherlands international.
Lastly, your predicted line-up and score prediction.
Gomes, Nyom, Cathcart, Prodl, Holebas, Capoue, Watson, Anya, Deeney, Abdi, Ighalo.
Newcastle 1-1 Watford
