Elland Road now awaits – Leeds v Newcastle preview | OneFootball

Welcome to the Leeds v Newcastle preview.

Saturday 30th August – A 5.30pm kick-off.

The travelling Toon Army have the luxury of a relatively local match this weekend when making the journey to Yorkshire to witness NUFC do battle with Leeds United.

This is a fixture that has provided plenty of drama over the years and Toon fans will be hoping for a repeat of some of the goal-fests we enjoyed under Sir Bobby when we regularly travelled to Elland Road and put Leeds to the sword.

Live on Sky Sports, neutrals will be looking forward to more drama following the events of Monday night at St James’ Park and few would bet against a similar level of entertainment.

Having enjoyed the encouragement from a twelfth man last match, Toon will have to cope with a white hot partisan atmosphere this time around as they look to secure their first win of the season at one of the most hostile venues the Premier League has to offer.

Form

Two games into the Premier League season, Newcastle have just one point on the board. The two performances however have led to hope that this could yet be an exciting nine months for the Toon, having dominated proceedings against both Aston Villa and Liverpool. Played two: drawn one, lost one.

Leeds celebrated their return to the top flight with a late victory over Everton but were brought, rather suddenly, back down to Earth with an absolute mauling at the hands of Arsenal. They’ve subsequently been knocked out of the League Cup having missed all three spot-kicks in a penalty shootout. Played three: won one, lost two.

Newcastle hosted Liverpool on Monday night and put in a gargantuan effort to overturn a two goal deficit. When Anthony Gordon’s red card reduced the Toon to ten men, they went into the half-time break both a goal and a man down. Just twenty seconds into the second half former Toon target Ekiteke scored at the Leazes End to seemingly put the match beyond United. What happened over the next forty-five minutes was a thing of beauty as black and white fans and players regrouped and refused to be bullied. Bruno reduced the arrears with a powerful header before Will Osula came off the bench and showed quick thinking to prod home a wildly celebrated equaliser. Just as it looked like the Toon were on course for a famous result with ten men, back came Liverpool to win the match in the eleventh minute of stoppage time. Heartbreaking.

Leeds’ last Premier League match saw them travel to Arsenal and take a bit of a battering, 2-0 down at halftime, any hopes of a comeback were extinguished by another two Arsenal goals early in the second half. There was still time for a late penalty as the Gunners ran out comfortable 5-0 winners.

Newcastle have lost only one of their last eight visits to Elland Road.

Three of the past four meetings between the two sides have ended in draws.

Newcastle have racked up an impressive seven victories away at Leeds in the Premier League and also won there in the 16/17 Championship season.

Memorable match

December 2001 saw one of the greatest matches the Premier League has ever seen, as well as one of the best ninety minutes I have ever had the privilege of attending.

Newcastle fans were already on cloud nine having won 3-1 at Highbury in midweek to go top of the league and just a few days later we were about to witness a match that was even more special.

Ahead through a fine team goal finished off by Craig Bellamy, Newcastle were pegged back almost immediately by Lee Bowyer and the teams went in level at the break. Goals from Viduka and Harte left Newcastle fans shivering in the snow but things were about to heat up very quickly indeed. Kieron Dyer had a shot well saved that saw the ball fall to Robbie Elliot who buried a diving header. Just a few minutes later, a handball in the box saw Alan Shearer smash home a penalty and send the away end into raptures. Even better was to come when Dyer played in Solano with just ten seconds of normal time remaining and our Peruvian playmaker stroked home a winning goal to complete a stunning comeback. Read all about that magical day HERE.: https://www.themag.co.uk/2020/03/the-newcastle-united-armchair-fan-brings-you-my-favourite-match-part-two-leeds-3-newcastle-4/ Final score: Leeds 3-4 Newcastle.

Played for both

David Batty played for the Toon when Kevin Keegan signed him from Blackburn Rovers towards the end of the 95/96 season in the hope that he would be the final piece of a title winning jigsaw. Making his debut in an infamous defeat at home to Man United, Batty became a fan favourite due to his no-nonsense tough tackling approach and his knack of scoring one spectacular goal each season, my personal favourite being an incredible lob in a 2-0 win over Wimbledon. He spent two and a half years on Tyneside and is a fondly remembered part of Keegan’s entertainers.

He played for Leeds in two separate spells, winning the league alongside Gary Speed in 1992 before moving to Blackburn and also winning the league there. He returned to the Yorkshire side from Newcastle in 1998 and remained there for the rest of his career.

Michael Bridges is originally from North Shields and started his career at the Mackems before signing for Leeds in 1999. Despite spending five years at Elland Road, he only made fifty-six league appearances, scoring nineteen goals. He had a brief loan spell at Newcastle in 2004 and looked a certain scorer when through on goal in the UEFA Cup semi-final. Unfortunately, his low effort across goal went wide and he returned to Leeds having never scored for his home town team.

Sean Longstaff may well have mixed emotions this weekend. The Geordie Newcastle fan signed for Leeds just a few weeks ago and should be warmly received by travelling fans. Making his debut in 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in an FA Cup tie against Blackburn Rovers in one of his first appearances. Highlights of his time on Tyneside include putting us 3-0 up at home to PSG and scoring twice in the 2023 League Cup semi-final to take us to Wembley for the first time in over two decades. He’s lived every fan’s dream by lifting a trophy at Wembley and may well have a small smile to himself should NUFC take all three points this weekend.

Managers

Eddie Howe following a 3-2 home defeat against Liverpool:

“I’m really proud of the performance, really pleased with how we played, great energy, great intensity, really pleased with the following of the game plan and then adapting because we go to ten men and for me we’re the better team in the second half as well as the first. It’s a really tough night for us from a number of fronts. I think we deserved something from the game.We had a mountain to climb at 2-0 down and ten men. We fought unbelievably well to come back. Of course you’re frustrated when you deserve to get points.”

Daniel Farke after being knocked out of the League Cup by Sheffield Wednesday:

“We rested a few players to the bench or not even in the squad and it’s always a bit tricky when you have so many changes, especially for the team that tries to make the game. We have to take the criticism and we are self-critical because we should have put four or five chances to bed. It’s not just annoying, you feel a bit embarrassed as a Premier League side but we’ve been involved in so many games like this, especially in the cup, and the lower-league team can win. This was one of these days.”

Charity

As it is an away match, Newcastle United fans will not be collecting opposite the Gallowgate end, for the food bank. However, you can still help out and all online cash donations are very much appreciated. For further info and/or to donate to the food bank online go HERE.