Key events
34 mins: Back come Brentford, though. They’re building their attacks a little slower now, perhaps mindful of a quickfire Newcastle second that could kill the game. A period of possession is welcome, momentarily taking the sting out of the Gallowgate noise.
32 mins: The sea change in momentum has been quite astonishing to see in the past five minutes or so. Suddenly, it’s all going Newcastle’s way and they’re pinning Brentford back.
30 mins: These Guimarães corners for Newcastle are Arsenal-esque; he’s whipping them right under the crossbar from the left.
It’s palmed out by Kelleher for Tonali but the Italian volleys over the bar.
29 mins: Somehow it’s not 2-0 to Newcastle. Janelt hacks one clear off the line as Wissa very nearly finishes a sequence that started with a driving Lewis Hall run into the box, and was followed by a cutback across the six-yard box. The hosts smell a second, for sure.
28 mins: Willock is showing the odd turn of pace down the Newcastle left, playing a sort of hybrid leftish-midfield role as Barnes drifts inside to join Wissa in attack.
26 mins: Andrews will be feeling sick as a parrot to concede a goal like that after all Brentford’s good work in the opening 20 minutes or so.
His team look undeterred, mind, pushing forward once again.
Oh no, it’s actually a pretty smart glancing header from Botman, a delicate touch after he rose highest to meet the in-swinging corner. Fair play.
That’s the lift the home side needed!
GOAL! Newcastle 1-0 Brentford (Botman, 24)
Guimarães sends in a couple of corners from the left, the second of which goes in! Sven Botman runs away to celebrate but I’m not sure how much he knew about it. Totally against the run of play.
Brentford have won four of their past five away matches in all competitions. I think we’re seeing why right now. Keith Andrews has this mob superbly organised.
21 mins: Kayode skips past a couple of Newcastle bodies and links up neatly with Ouattara, collecting the return pass and nearly picking out Lewis-Potter with a fizzing low cross from the right. More Brentford pressure for Newcastle to withstand.
19 mins: A few groans and frustrated cries of ‘come on’ greet another Newcastle error in possession. Yep, the home faithful know their team need a lift here.
17 mins: Mathias Jensen is almost the beneficiary of another loose pass in the Newcastle defence. It was a tame shot in the end from the Dane, who had options either side of him but opted to try and test Nick Pope.
16 mins: Newcastle are a bit of a mess at the back, mind you. Brentford’s Dango Ouattara is causing problems charging down the visitors’ right.
15 mins: Newcastle are slowly waking up and getting back into it. A few set-pieces are coming their way – the most recent of which sees Barnes presented with a good chance, which he flicks just wide on the spin.
13 mins: Lewis-Potter has been a busy bee in these early stages, if you’ll pardon the pun. He’s nominally playing left wing but has been popping up in some interesting positions.
11 mins: Sandro Tonali somehow persuaded Trippier to step away from that free-kick and let him have a pop, I think the more experienced man will be pulling rank and taking the next one after Tonali’s effort sails into the Gallowgate.
The more replays of that early non-penalty decision I see, the more I think the officials have made a boo-boo.
9 mins: Henderson trips Lewis Hall – who impresses me every time I watch him, by the way – and Newcastle have a free-kick in a favourable spot here.
8 mins: Jordan Henderson is getting a smattering of boos from the Newcastle faithful for his Sunderland connections. It does sound a bit half-hearted though.
He’s seen a lot of the ball early on as Brentford look to build on their positive start. To say the home team look nervy would be an understatement.
6 mins: It’s been an odd start to the game. Both teams are looking to go very direct.
I don’t want to go all conspiracy theory, but I think most home teams would get that penalty. The fact you can barely hear Brentford’s modest away contingent in the big bowl of St James’s surely does make a subtle difference.
4 mins: At the other end Harvey Barnes lines up a long-ranger, trying to curl it inside the far post, but sets it out a little too far. That was travelling at some speed, mind.
On that penalty check, VAR had a long old look. It really seemed to me that Trippier tugged back Lewis-Potter. Newcastle can consider themselves fortunate.
2 mins: Anyway, the away side have started fairly positively, knocking it about until a long-ball almost finds its way through to Lewis-Potter, who believes he was dragged down trying to latch onto that one.
VAR to check it?
1 min: Brentford’s sky blue and brownish away number isn’t a million miles off Belgium’s recent Tintin-inspired change strip. Jury’s out, for me.
KICK OFF
Andy Madley gives us a long peeeeeep of his whistle and we’re off.
The players are out and we’re almost ready to go. Chris Paraskevas emails in, presumably from Australia/somewhere far away where it’s currently very early in the morning:
This might seem a little pessimistic but at the end of the day, anyone forced to wake up for Kieran Trippier’s ‘set pieces’ (loose definition) at 4:30 in the morning isn’t/couldn’t possibly be concerned with staying positive.
(He’s still predicting a 3-2 win for his team, Newcastle).
Close game in the rugby.
Newcastle still have a formidable home record this season. Before the 2-0 defeat by Aston Villa a fortnight ago, they’d not actually been toppled at St James’s Park in the Premier League since Arsenal beat them 2-1 in September. The FA Cup penalty shootout defeat to Bournemouth and the Carabao Cup shellacking by Manchester City have obviously dented the confidence somewhat, but on their home patch Eddie Howe’s side are strong.
It’s around about this time that I ask you for your score predictions – send them to me via email if you wish.
I shall also remind you that the last three games I’ve live-blogged for the Guardian have brought four goals – two 3-1 home wins and a 2-2 draw. So I’m predicting a 3-1 Newcastle win to continue the trend. Wissa would just love a goal, wouldn’t he? And it’s about time Howe’s boys got back on track at home.
With less than half an hour until kick-off please enjoy this excellent Jonathan Liew read on Newcastle’s PSR and ownership predicament.
The results in the earlier games mean Brentford can still go level on points with sixth-placed Liverpool with a win on Tyneside. Newcastle will jump into the top half if they claim the three points. Fulham and Sunderland losing will give cheer to these two teams for a few reasons.
The middle of the Premier League table is a very fluid situation this season.
The 3pm games are all coming to a conclusion – follow the latest updates with my colleague Emillia Hawkins here.
It is an almighty boost for Newcastle to have Guimarães back in their midfield. They’re just a different team without him. The only downside for Eddie Howe this evening is Anthony Gordon’s absence – the winger hasn’t recovered from a hamstring injury in time to feature.
It’ll be a particularly big night for Yoane Wissa, who is again preferred to Nick Woltemade up front for Newcastle. Wissa was injured for the Magpies’ 3-1 defeat at his former club Brentford earlier in the season.
Igor Thiago has fared pretty well as Wissa’s de facto replacement this season and the Brazilian – who has 16 goals in the league this season – will be key if the Bees are to come away with a positive result this afternoon.
Team news
Newcastle: Pope; Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Hall; Guimarães, Tonali, Willock; J.Murphy, Wissa, Barnes.
Subs: Ramsdale, Osula, Elanga, Woltemade, Burn, A.Murphy, Ramsey, Shahar, Neave.
Brentford: Kelleher; Kayode, Van den Berg, Ajer, Henry; Henderson, Janet; Ouattara, Jensen, Lewis-Potter; I. Thiago.
Subs: Valdimarsson, Hickey, Pinnock, Nelson, Yarmoliuk, Collins, Damsgaard, Donovan, Furo.
Preamble
A run of four games without a win and some existential angst regarding PSR and a lack of January transfer activity has put Eddie Howe and Newcastle fans in a pretty grumpy mood of late. But it’s really not all bad news. Three of those four matches came against PSG, Liverpool and Manchester City – not teams the Magpies are truly expected to topple – and they still sit 11th in the Premier League. Plus, the compressed nature of this year’s table means that equates to being just three points behind today’s opponents, Brentford. A win with a two-goal margin for Howe’s men tonight would draw them level with the Bees and keep European qualification hopes alive.
Bruno Guimarães is “getting closer” to a return, according to Howe, who is fully aware how his team functions – or doesn’t – without their captain and talisman. Brentford, contrastingly, have this season proved once again they are a true collective, still punching above their weight despite losing a manager and some key players. Will we see Keith Andrews on the touchline in some European fixtures next season? It’s not unfathomable.
The action at St James’ Park kicks off at 5.30pm GMT. We’ll bring you team news before then so please do stay tuned. This should be a fun one.
