Key events
An email: “Whilst there’s no doubt that Isak is a great striker, he is also quite streaky (see Aug-Oct and April-May last season for reference) and frequently not in the mood, so seeing him miss big chances is not a rarity,” writes Adam Berry. “I think getting a good fee for him and spending it on two proven strikers will drop our ceiling but also massively raise our floor over a potentially lethargic Isak and a crocked Wilson.”
Half-time: Aston Villa 0-0 Newcastle
It’s all square at the break. But make no mistake, Newcastle have been the vastly superior team. They should have taken an early lead when Anthony Elanga was played in behind the home defence but the debutant was denied by a splendid save by Marco Bizot, who is playing his first game for Villa. Elanga went on to snatch at another glorious opportunity, while Anthony Gordon should have done much better after getting on the end of an inch-perfect Harvey Barnes cross. Villa have offered comparatively little and can consider themselves very fortunate not to be behind.
45 min: Joelinton gets booked for a decidedly robust tackle on Amadou Onana. He can have no complaints and takes his licks without comment or protest. It’s half-time.
44 min: Newcastle remain in firm control of this game as we approach half-time but the deadlock remains intact. McGinn wins the ball in midfiedl and surges forward but has nobody up in support apart from Watkins. The Scot is unable to pick out the Villa striker.
42 min: The barbers of Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton have been applying it liberally too, which is making things a mite more difficult than they need to be when it comes to identifying tough-tackling Newcastle ball-winners.
40 min: It’s Rogers whose hairdresser has been playing fast and loose with the peroxide, just in case you’re pondering.
39 min: Digne and Rogers combine down the left flank but the bottle-blond Villa man is dispossessed by Fabian Schar.
37 min: Another long throw from Lucas Digne. Pope comes off his line to claim the ball comfortably despite the hulking nearby presence of Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa.
35 min: Villa’s main tactic, such as it is, seems to be playing long balls in behind Kieran Trippier for Ollie Watkins to chase. I suppose it’s a good idea in theory but most deliveries so far have been hideously overhit and invariably end up at the feet or in the hands of Nick Pope.
32 min: Dan Burn gets back to clear an Ollie Watkins pull-back from the byline, putting a stop to a promising Aston Villa move that began with what looked suspiciously like a Matty Cash foul on – I think – Gordon at the other end of the pitch.
31 min: If anything, Clive, the boy Elanga is trying too hard.
29 min: It’s early days but Anthony Elanga is having a debut to forget for Newcastle. Running on to an excellent curled pass down the touchline from Kieran Trippier, he allows the ball to clank off his shins and go out for a throw-in despite being in acres of space. Aston Villa’s fans greet his latest misadventure with a raucous cheer.
28 min: Bruno Guimaraes snaps into a tackle in midfield and wins the ball. It’s played forward towards Anthony Gordon but Tyrone Mings gets across to cover before the Newcastle forward can get a sight on goal.
26 min: Lucas Digne takes a throw-in of his own and hoys the ball towards the near post, where Dan Burn thumps it clear with a meaty header.
22 min: Under pressure from a ferocious Newcastle press, Lucas Digne surveys his options and decides the pick of them is to just welly the ball into the stand for a Newcastle throw-in deep in Villa territory. His side are seriously under the collective Geordie cosh.
20 min: Newcastle continue to pile on the pressure but a Livramento cross from the left is plucked from the air by Bizot. Eddie Howe’s side might be the visitors but are playing like they’re at home and with better finishing would be at least two goals up.
19 min: Anthony Gordon chases a through ball from deep towards the Villa penalty area but is beaten to it by Bizot, who gathers comfortably.
15 min: It’s been an entertaining game so far but the pick of the chances, indeed the only chances, have fallen to Newcastle. From outside the penalty area, Anthony Gordon shoots through a thicket of bodies and his effort takes a deflection off Matty Cash and is helped out for a corner by Marco Bizot. Nothing comes of the set-piece.
11 min: Barnes’s cross from the left is too high for Gordon but Elanga is lurking behind him and catches the ball on the volley from eight yards out. He slashes wildly at it and fails to hit the target. Newcastle’s new signing is clearly desperate to impress but needs to show more composure.
10 min: Joelinton gets on the ball and combines with Tino Livramento down the left. Harvey Barnes takes up possession and curls a delightful cross towards the far post. Having peeled away from Tyrone Mings, Anthony Gordon sends his header over the bar. He should have hit the target and Newcastle have now squandered two excellent opportunities that one suspects a certain Swede would have put away in his sleep.
7 min: Newcastle successfully defend a Villa corner and break upfield. Bizot does well to prevent a deflected Anthony Gordon shot from going out for a corner for the visitors. The Dutch goalkeeper has had a dream start to his Premier League debut.
5 min: Harvey Barnes feels he should have had a penalty after getting shoved in the penalty box after that missed effort by Elanga. I’m inclined to think he might have had a case but in the Stockley Park VAR bunker, Peter Bankes disagrees.
2 min: John McGinn goes arse-over-tit on the cinder track beyond the touchline while trying to prevent the ball in play and bursts out laughing when the crowd cheer. The smile is wiped off his face when, moments later, Anthony Elanga finds himself through on goal with the ball at his feet. His shot is saved brilliantly by Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot and in the ensuing scramble, Newcastle have a penalty shout turned down. More on that anon.
Aston Villa v Newcastle United is go …
1 min: Newcastle kick-off, their players wearing green shirts, white shorts and green socks. Taking a leaf out of the Paris Saint-Germain handbook, they immediately boot the ball into touch down by the corner flag but are unable to win it back from the Villa throw-in.
A minute’s silence: There’s another pre-match tribute, this time in memory of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, who also lost their lives in tragic circumstances this summer. Unsurprisingly, the silence is perfectly observed.
Not long now: Aston Villa’s walk-out music will have a special poignancy this afternoon. John McGinn leads the troops out to the monster riffola of Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train and pre-match tribute has already been paid to the late Godfather of Metal and Black Sabbath frontman, who passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 76. Bruno Guimaraes wears the captain’s armband for Newcastle and kick-off is just a few minutes away.
Sandro Tonali: Newcastle’s Italian midfielder looks fighting fit and in a very good mood as he makes his way back to the dressing-room following his warm-up having a laugh and a joke with Tino Livramento. En route to the tunnel, he goes out of his way to high five several young Villa fans.
Some correspondence: “As a previously pessimistic Toon fan, our starting XI looks very balanced, steady at the back and middle and hopefully enterprising enough up front without Isak,” writes Jeremy Keady. “Not sure about our depth for today or indeed the coming months, but a point here would be great, considering our next match (Liverpool at home) and tricky first six matches (Villa, Liverpool, Leeds away, Wolves at home, Bournemouth away and Arsenal at home).”
And for balance: “Villa fan here,” writes Karl Ruben Weseth. “I was a bit baffled by the aggregated Guardian prediction that we’d finish fifth as well. I’ve seen a lot of analysis from various writers pointing towards Villa’s squad being settled as a big plus, but to me, the way Emery wasn’t able to crack Glasner’s Palace on the fourth time of asking last season made me fear that he’d hit his ceiling with the club.
“The way he then went on to make a lot of similar mistakes in the way he approached the Man Utd season-ender a couple of weeks later only stoked that fear. Those were arguably the two most important single fixtures last season, and Emery gave both of them away with a confoundingly timid approach. I still think he’s an amazing coach, but my cautiously pessimistic hunch is that this season will see a bit of a regression to mid-table for the Villa.”
Newcastle: Dan “Big Dan Durn” Burn has been talking to TNT Sports ahead of his warm-up and says he’s pleased with how pre-season has gone at Newcastle despite the “external noise” that’s surrounded the club. “We’re starting from zero again, we’ve got a lot to prove and we’re ready to go,” he says.
Asked if the noise in question might have brought the group of footballers who are actually happy to play for Newcatle closer together, he has this to say: “I think so. I mentioned the external noise but we’ve got quite a tight-knit group and we just get on with it. We’ve had four or five weeks now without Alex and for us he’s obviously not involved at the moment but we’ve got players who need to step up and contribute with the goals.”
Aston Villa: Youri Tielemans will make his 100th appearance for Aston Villa this afternoon and as he prepared to mark his century the Belgian sat down for an exclusive interview with our own Ben Fisher to discuss life, the universe and his determination to help end Aston Villa’s 30-year trophy drought.
Aston Villa: Contrary to Unai Emery’s pessimistic view, our writers have predicted a fifth place finish for Aston Villa come season’s end. I would like to distance myself from the collective Guardian hive mind because according to my crystal ball they’ll be finishing ninth.
Newcastle United: If you’d asked me at the end of last season, I’d have predicted that Newcastle would spend big and well this summer, and possibly be in the title race this time around. After the summer they’ve had, I’m more of a mind that they’ll to do well to finish in the top 10. The Guardian Sport collective has them higher up in seventh place.
Today’s match officials
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Referee: Craig Pawson.
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Referee’s assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis and Nick Hopton.
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Fourth official: Simon Hooper.
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VAR: Peter Bankes.
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Assistant VAR: Tim Robinson.
Those teams: With Emi Martinez suspended, Dutch goalkeeper Marco Bizot comes in for his Villa debut after join ing the club from Brest. New signing Evann Guessand is on the bench, while the inclusion of Donyell Malen among the Villa substitutes is a bit of a surprise as he is reported to have been in sensational form during pre-season.
Newcastle are without Joe Willock, who has been ruled out of today’s proceedings with a calf injury, while petulance’s Alexander Isak is obviously not involved. Aaron Ramsdale has to settle for a place on the bench, with Nick Pope keeping his place in goal, but there is a debut for Anthony Elanga on the right wing. Harvey Barnes will start on the left, with Anthony Gordon playing as a false nine.
Barely in the door, Malick Thiaw is among the Newcastle substitutes, along with South Korean teenager Park Seung-soo, who has apparently turned a few heads with good performances in pre-season.
Aston Villa v Newcastle United line-ups
Aston Villa: Bizot, Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne, Kamara, Tielemans, McGinn, Onana, Rogers, Watkins.
Subs: Wright, Pau, Maatsen, Buendia, Malen, Guessand, Iling-Junior, Jimoh.
Newcastle United: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Livramento, Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Gordon, Barnes, Elanga.
Subs: Ramsdale, Hall, Botman, Thiaw, Krafth, Osula, Murphy, Seung-soo, Miley.
Premier League: Aston Villa v Newcastle
Villa Park is the venue for a match between two sides whose respective coaches whose pre-season preparations have been far from ideal. In his pre-match press conference yesterday, Unai Emery could be heard bemoaning the manner in which Aston Villa’s activity in the transfer market has been hamstrung by profit and sutainability rules, a state of affairs that prompted the Spaniard to tell reporters that his team have little or no chance of finishing in the top seven of the Premier League.
Villa’s only major investment this summer has been on the Nice Striker Evan Guessand, while the Turkish centre-back Yasin Ozcan and a couple of reserve goalkeepers have also arrived at Villa Park. Ozcan has already been loaned out to Anderlecht but Villa are hopeful of getting Marco Asensio back in on loan from Paris Saint-Germain after his productive spell in the Midlands last season.
His opposite number, Eddie Howe, has had similar issues but while Newcastle have missed out on several high profile targets, they have managed to bring Malick Thiaw (AC Milan), Aaron Ramsdale (Southampton), Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest) and Antonio Cordero (free after leaving Malaga) to St James’ Park. They are also understood to be in the process of wrapping up a deal to sign Jacob Ramsey from today’s opponents. Villa are in desperate need of the £40m profit they’ll generate from the sale of a highly regarded academy graduate to help their bean-counters balance the books.
Howe has also been forced to deal with the petulant and unseemly strop thrown by his star striker Alexander Isak, who is hankering after a move to Liverpool and has made it clear he has no intention of pulling on a Newcastle shirt again despite having three years left on his contract. Howe admitted yesterday that control of the situation is “not in my hands” but said he could envisage a scenario where Isak plays in his side again. It is one that would almost certainly involve no end of grovelling to unimpressed teammates, other club staff and fans from the Swede but we are unlikely to see any sign of him at Villa Park today.
With so much (or little, in the case of Villa) going on behind the scenes, it is to be presumed both managers will welcome the opportunity to put their off-field woes behind them and get down to the comparatively uncomplicated task of playing football. Kick-off is at 12.30pm but stay tuned in the meantime for team news and build-up. Villa will be out for a modicum revenge over the team that pipped them to the final Champions League qualification place on the final day of last season.
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