Newcastle v Latics Premier League Preview

The Latics head north on Monday evening, to take on an out of sorts Newcastle United as they kick off the crucial busy festive period. 

Roberto Martinez will be grateful of the extra 48 hours break given to both sides as a result of the game being switched for Sky’s Monday Night Football coverage, as he looks for more luck on the injury front.

Gary Caldwell

Having headed into the midweek clash against the Champions without all three first choice centre half’s, the Spaniard could well be forced to stick with same defensive line. Captain Gary Caldwell and midfielder David Jones are both rated as 50-50. Meanwhile Antolin Alcaraz, Albert Crusat, Ivan Ramis and Ben Watson are all ruled out with various ongoing injuries.

Both sides head into the clash separated by only goal difference, as Newcastle boss Alan Pardew looks to avoid a third straight home defeat and bring an end to five game winless run.

Injuries and European football have exposed the lack of depth in the Geordie team, as they focussed much of the summer in hanging onto prized assets rather than add to an already small squad. Pardew will not be able to call upon the services of the influential midfield pairing of Yohan Cabaye and Haten Ben Arfa, who both look set for lengthy spells on the sidelines. Elsewhere centre half Steven Taylor was also added to a growing injury list this week and utility man James Perch is suspended.

On what is expected to be a bitterly cold night the Latics will look to heap more pressure on the home side and keep the crowd quiet. They will gain confidence from their last outing against City where they were arguably the better side for large parts and created a number of openings.

Arouna Kone and Franco Di Santo led the line impressively and Jordi Gomez was unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty before half time. Despite the absence of his first choice centre half's Martinez will have been encouraged by the performance of Adrian Lopez who lead the line and held his own against the Champions. 

Adrian Lopez

Elsewhere the Latics have secured a home tie in the Third Round of the FA Cup against League One outfit AFC Bournemouth and will be keen to make up for the Carling Cup disappointment with a run in the Cup. 

Before the the cup kicks in, they head into a busy and potentially season defining festive period, with games against QPR, Norwich, Arsenal, Everton and Aston Villa to come before they face Manchester United on New Year’s day.

Much will depend on Monday evening if Martinez’s men are in the mood to impress, the Spaniard warned ahead of the game that this is potentially a bad time to take on Newcastle, but will want to take advantage of the situation and move clear of Newcastle and the teams below them.

For the fans heading up north they will take heart from their last two Monday night outings where they secured memorable victories against Arsenal and Blackburn securing their top flight status in the process. 

Liverpool 3-0 Latics – Suarez Overpowers Latics

A poor second half performance ensured the Latics fell to a second consecutive defeat, against a Luis Suarez inspired Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

Having gone into the clash unbeaten in their last five games against the red side of Merseyside, the Latics headed into the game confident that they could pile more misery onto Brendan Rodgers’ men. 

Luis Suarez & Ivan Ramis

Roberto Martinez opted to field the same XI who fell short against West Brom last weekend, with the influential James McArthur missing out once again with a dead leg. 

The Latics frustrated the home side throughout the first period and restricted them to very few chances, with the impressive Jose Enrique, going close with an effort just wide from the edge of the area, and Daniel Agger went close shortly afterwards nodding past the post from a corner.

Martinez was forced into a change on the half hour mark with Ben Watson coming off for David Watson.
Moments before half-time, Enrique just failed to turn home, with Al-Habsi producing a smart stop to ensure the two sides went in at the break level. 

The Latics hardwork in the first half was undone within a devastating twenty minutes as
Liverpool were unplayable for large periods and took the lead with Suarez emphatically striking home, after Raheem Sterling took advantage of some lapse play in the Latics midfield. 
Enrique grew increasingly influential as the game during the second period and was on hand to see Suarez net his second after a great run and assist from the Spaniard. The former Newcastle man rounded off the scoring as he was left unmarked after some neat play between the delightful Suarez and existing Sterling. 

The Latics were unable to get a foothold on the second half as they were unable to live with Liverpool as they secured only their third league win of the season and stretched their unbeaten run to seven games. 

Ali Al Habsi

Martinez will have wanted to extend his side’s recent unbeaten run against the team he turned down in the summer, and will feel that his side were unlucky to have conceded the third and ultimately the killer blow. 

Ivan Ramis’s touch seemed to have deflected off Suarez but the Uruguayan was given the decision which resulted in Enrique’s goal. 

Although he will not have many arguments with the overall result as his side were second best for much of the contest and were lucky not to have conceded more late on as the home side wasted a number of chances. 

Up next for the Latics are two home clashes, first against Reading who themselves picked up their first win of the season against inform Everton. Martinez will be keen to ensure that his side arrest a run of two straight defeats as we head into the busy winter period.

Latics v Bradford City - Captial One Cup Fourth Round Preview

Roberto Martinez is set to use Tuesday night’s cup tie as an opportunity to give his fringe players some valuable game time, as he sets sights on a place in the last eight of the competition.

League Two’s Bradford City are the opposition on what will be the first game under the floodlights of the DW stadium this season and they will be confident of causing an upset.


Mauro Boselli


The Latics are set to be without on loan Arsenal midfield Ryo Miyaichi who also missed the weekend’s victory against West Ham, the Japan international has been sidelined with a troubling groin injury for a few weeks now.

Definitely out are Antolin Alcaraz and Albert Crusat, with manager Martinez unable to provide an expected return date for both just yet.

The Latics will be without Scottish international midfielder James McArthur who picked up his fifth booking of the season late on during Saturday’s defeat of West Ham, with David Jones, Ben Watson and Jordi Gomez all battling for a start in his place.

Record signing Mauro Boselli is set to start and will be keen to impress once again, having netted three times in his two previous cup outings. Youngster Callum McMannaman is also set to feature after a number of promising substitute appearances this season.

The tie provides the Latics with a great opportunity to progress into the last eight of a major trophy and will have many dreaming of a cup run reminiscent of the 2005/06 season.

Jordi Gomez

Bradford City arrive in decent form, having exceeded pre season expectations to date, but manager Phil Parkinson is set to be without a number of key players. City midfielder Ricky Ravenhill will serve the first of his three-game ban after being dismissed for violent conduct in the 1-0 defeat to Burton Albion at the weekend, while Andrew Davies and Luke Oliver are also almost certain to miss out as well after picking up injuries at the Pirelli Stadium.

Gary Jones may not feature on Tuesday evening either after Parkinson acknowledged that the midfielder might not be ready for two games in four days, following his return to first team action, and Craig Forsyth will definitely miss out as the winger is cup-tied after already playing in the competition for Watford.

Martinez will be keen to see his side progress and crucially ensure that they can gather some real momentum, and move away from the danger zone in the league.

As with the earlier rounds, he will also want to see that the same hunger and desire from his fringe players, as he will be look to freshen up his first XI over the course of the winter period.