Gloom to deepen on Tyneside?

According to Sportinglife we are doomed tonight

By Jonathan Turner

The general feeling seems to be that Newcastle have improved under Joe Kinnear but should they really be odds-on across the board for Tuesday night’s clash with West Brom?

The Magpies remain in the relegation zone, have already been beaten at St James’ Park by Blackburn, Hull and even Spurs this season, and head into this game on the back of a derby defeat by Sunderland.

Indeed their one and only victory in any competition at home was back in August and they’ve again got to make do without injured strikers Michael Owen and Mark Viduka against the Baggies.

It’s a sorry situation and it’s also worth pointing out that while they’ve produced more spirited displays under Kinnear, the bottom line is they’ve taken just two points from a possible nine.

The furore surrounding Joey Barton’s return at the weekend probably hasn’t helped either but, so limited are the options open to Kinnear, there’s got to be every chance the midfielder will start on Tuesday.

And make no mistake about it, the clash with the Baggies looks a real relegation six-pointer.

West Brom have been doing just enough to keep themselves clear of the drop zone since their return to the top flight and the good news for them is that they’ve been taking points off the sides who are likely to be battling with them in the bottom half of the table.

They’ve played four teams currently in the top six - Hull, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Manchester United - and lost every one.

But their games against West Ham, Middlesbrough, Bolton and Fulham have seen them take 10 points out of 12 which means they could be more than capable of taking advantage of Newcastle’s woes.

The Baggies were also beaten at the weekend, against fellow Premier League newcomers Hull, but anyone who saw that game will be fully aware that the 3-0 scoreline seriously flattered the Tigers.

West Brom had much the better of the first half and created plenty of chances but a combination of the woodwork and an inspired display from Hull keeper Boaz Myhill meant they had nothing to show for their efforts.

The Baggies try to set themselves up a little tighter away from home - as shown by a 1-0 win at Boro and a goalless draw at Bolton - and will fancy their chances of shutting out a Newcastle side without their main goalscoring threat in Owen.

That definitely brings the 0-0 scoreline into the equation so we’re going to split our stakes between that (go ‘no goalscorer’ to keep own goals on our side) and a 1-0 victory for the visitors at 12/1 and 11/1 respectively.