Manchester United breezed past ‘poor’ Bolton Wanderers last afternoon and in the process leveled points with league leaders Manchester City, who will visit Wigan on Monday. Bolton who was already languishing in the relegation zone suffered another routine defeat, while the victory of Blackburn Rovers over Fulham further compounded their misery.

United were brilliant from the onset. The wing play of Nani and Valencia created lots of space for the Man- United strikers to exploit. Special mention should go to the Ecuadorian whose pace troubled the full backs of Wigan throughout the match. His menacing pace down the flanks added with powerful crosses into the box kept Wigan defense gasping for breath. Club captain Patrice Evra hailed the winger’s impact by saying “I think he ate a motor, He was unbelievable”.

The fairy tale return of Paul Scholes into the Man-Utd squad reached another height yesterday, in terms of football romanticism, as the 37-year-old midfielder scored the opener that was crucial for more than one reason. First, his 70 minutes stay on the pitch was marked with sharp, incisive passing and distribution. The midfielder’s performance quashed the growing skepticism within the press that his inclusion was more of a desperate attempt from Sir Alex Ferguson. Moreover, it silenced everyone who raised doubts about his fitness level. Further, the timing of the goal was critical. Just before the half time the Red Devils took the lead which in a way smashed the morals of the visitors. United created relentless pressures in the Bolton goal mouth, but somehow their defense thwarted all the dangers keeping the score line stalemate. Adam Bogdan was the star of the show. He saved Wayne Rooney’s penalty in the first half and it was his heroics that kept the score line to 3-0; it could have been plenty.

Michael Carrick was showing his old spark for some time now; yesterday he was magnificent too. He was further galvanized by the return of the veteran beside him, produced some stunning through passes and long range balls. The most eye-catching aspect about his game was he kept the game simple and went for the killer pass only when he needed to shows that Carrick has been playing with some sort of confidence. Getting a goal from a long range effort wouldn’t do any harm to ‘that’ confidence either. Few days ago Man-Utd midfield looked dilapidated. The injuries didn’t help though. The return of Scholes (another master tactics from Ferguson) and Carrick’s good form has been a boon for the Red Devils. When Tom Cleverly will return, the midfield can only sparkle.

Ferguson has already stated that he will not buy any player in the January transfer window as the price gets unrealistically inflated. In such case, Scholes-Carrick-Anderson has to play a major role as Fletcher’s injury is a terrible blow to the club, Cleverly’s injury situation is unclear and the young brigade of Paul Pogba and Ravel Morrison are not yet ‘ready’ to step up though they are ‘good enough’ for Manchester United. There is a subtle difference between being ‘good enough’ and a ‘readymade package’.

Finally what to say about Bolton? Critics like Hansen on BBC Match of the Day said that Owen Coyle shouldn’t be judged on the basis of the early disappointments simply because of the tough fixtures they’ve got. Many opined that he will turn the tide and will the take club back to a healthy position. But things haven’t improved since then. The club is bereft of confidence and currently craving for points which could take them outside the suffocating boundary of relegation zone.

But, look at the fixtures they have got till the crucial March – Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and away to Norwich. The question is – from where the points will come? Is sacking Owen Coyle a solution? Probably not. The club is already losing their key player Gary Cahill to Chelsea and the problem of debt only ensures that Owen Coyle has limited resources at his disposal.

This is perhaps called Irony of Football. Before the season kicked off almost every journalist were ready to put their money on for Newcastle for a sure-shot relegation candidate and Bolton within top ten. ‘Modernism’ rather ‘post-Modernism’ has given the concept of ‘role-reversal’. In this case can it be called an ‘ironic-role-reversal’?

1. Poor refereeing – the gift that keeps on giving.

Those that have been watching long enough will argue if Kompany’s tackle was really worth the red card. A few years ago, it would have been a brilliant tackle but now considered a foul, but honestly to fans on both sides, was it really worth a red card? This leads of course to City being short one man and letting United score 2 more before the half. But then Chris Foy gifts a point to Manchester City at the opening of the 2nd half by calling a foul on Evra which may have been clean tangle up and of course…there may have been a handball off of Jones, but hey, what’s a Manchester derby without controversy?

2. Battle of the B sides

Let’s face it both teams were without all of their top talent. No Hernandez or Vidic no Balotelli on Dzeko. Nasir was out there somewhere but with Scholes’ blunder to let City back in the game with City being down one, you have to ask yourselves, who capitalized more ? 1st half United dominated the match and really should have been up 5 nil before the ½ but City found the fire to really make a game out of it. Phil Jones was a lot more aggressive on the ball than I have seen him in most games making a concerted effort to establish his presence on defense. Still refer back to number 1 to see why this was a close game.

3. Is Lindergaard United’s best answer going forward?

While it’s starting to look more and more like Lindergaard is the better goalkeeper, I can’t help but keep noting how there have been times when United’s back 4 have not really helped either goalkeeper in critical games. Granted as I said earlier City got one of their goals on a bad call, there were plenty of blunders on United’s defense (yes Rio, I am looking at you!) that threatened United’s chance of winning. Lazy and bad passing, particularly a few from Rio to Jones, among them. Ferdinand’s risky yellow card play in stoppage time surely didn’t help much either (showing how much of a step he’s lost!), but thankfully with Lindergaard’s blocking of the ensuing penalty kick really looks to me that he has more confidence under pressure than de Gea. I will grudgingly give City credit for finding ways to stay in the game despite being short and the somewhat odd change that Mancini made at the start of the 2nd half.

If I had to pick a man of the Match, as much as I was happy for Rooney’s 2 goals, I would have to pick Phil Jones.

The goat of the match was Chris Foy.

Jack Wilshere. A name you should, by now, have heard. Arsenal’s youngest ever league debutante and future England great is currently on the sidelines nursing an ankle injury, but here’s why I think he will one day be huge.

Movement, aggression, dribbling, vision and passing. Attributes which I think sum Wilshere up brilliantly, on the break and attacking he is a serious threat with his snappy short passes and his ability to put in the defence splitting long ball. He sees the pass in ways very few players can but also has the ability to execute them too, a winning combination. However without the ball he is just as brilliant, despite his lack of height and stature he still goes in for every tackle, no matter who he is up against and comes out on top most of the time. The ability to stick a foot in and win the ball is something you look for in every player and Wilshere is the perfect example.

He is also very smart, and at just 19 you can’t help but be in awe. He has a brilliant football mind and is already playing with the intelligence of a lot of older players, no wonder he is a first team player for Arsene Wenger – although I guess age is just a number for the Frenchman. I can only imagine how much his football intellect will develop as he gets older but I fear for the teams who will have to play him because if he is already a handful, in ten years time he will be subject to a lot of man marking, that’s for sure.

The player’s hunger is enviable. Through my years of watching football, and the players playing it I have always noticed one thing: if a player is hungry nine times out of ten he will be better because of it. Wilshere has a hunger that comes straight at you through the screen, with every tackle, every pass and every step you can see it, and it’s infectious. At 19 that sort of hunger is what makes players into stars and I think that all the Arsenal and England fans out there will be extremely grateful for having him.

He can play the perfect role too. Yes, he is versatile but as a central midfielder he is perfect. As said above he can attack and defend with proficiency and it makes him a massive prospect, especially for England. The national side has been falling short in certain areas on the pitch and I think Wilshere will definitely be able to fill the void, especially with other youngsters like Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley and Phil Jones and who knows they could become England greats together. The idea that Wilshere will be the central figure of the future England team is something that I’m definitely looking forward to.

Scared of what Jack Wilshere is and might become? You should be.

Sitting five points off the coveted Champions League places, Liverpool will look to gain maximum points in their upcoming fixtures. If they can stay close to fourth over the coming weeks, with the January transfer window looming and Dalglish being clear they have the option to buy or not and Steven Gerrard’s return imminent; there will surely be the belief and potential within the club to be genuine contenders for fourth, right to the final whistle of the season.

After their impressive performance against QPR with a misleading scoreline for a team that dominated the match in all areas, something of a trend this season for Liverpool, they will run into defining period of their season with an away match and return for Downing to his former club: Aston Villa.

Villa have only taken 11 points from a possible 21 at home this season. They will be without their joint top scorer Agbonlahor, who is serving his one match ban after picking up 5 yellow cards.

Liverpool have had more draws this season then they would have liked. However there will be some sense of confidence going into this match at least, with the knowledge that all of their draws: five, have been at Anfield. They have taken 12 points from a possible 21 away from home.

With Liverpool looking to push closer to the top four and and Villa looking to push further away from the relegation battle, which was helped by their win over Bolton last weekend; both clubs will be anxious to get a result.

After Tottenham’s controversial defeat against Stoke City last Sunday, it has been reported that hundreds if not thousands of Tottenham supporters have been and continue to send obscene tweets to Sir Chris Hoy. It appears there seems to be a literacy problem among some of the Tottenham supporters. I guess people don’t know the difference between a football referee and an Olympic cycling champion, even on his own site. I think is it very sad and pathetic that some individuals can’t accept the defeat and move on. I understand people are passionate about football and other sports. I am no different. I live in the United States and support several teams in this country and a couple in England. For example this last weekend wasn’t a great weekend for my teams. The San Jose Sharks lost both games over the weekend, Tottenham lost and the Dallas Cowboys lost another last minute game. However, I didn’t feel the need to make a complete fool of myself and send out obscene or threatening comments on the Internet for the whole world to see and embarrass the teams I support. There isn’t anything wrong with being passionate about supporting your teams, but there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

Professional sports are on the same level as discussing religion or politics. For most individuals it’s difficult to engage in a discussion without taking it personal. Everyone is an expert, they know more about the game than the other person. I love discussing those topics all very interesting and enjoyable but I don’t take it personal. I know how to separate the personal attack and the attack of an idea, which aren’t the same.

The recent tweets against Sir Chris Hoy sparked an interest in me concerning sports hooliganism or the lack of good sportsmanship. Back in April 2011, a San Francisco Giants fan was brutally beaten by two Los Angeles Dodgers fans. I recall back in the 1980s my uncle telling me he feared for his safety, which prevented him from going to Reading matches. Granted a lot has changed with better stadiums and improved security. In reading past accounts of fans getting out of control most of the evidence points to a lack of education, low paying jobs, a sense of dread about the future and unhappy family life at home. Going to the game with the gang was their chance to lash out at the world that had forgotten about them or couldn’t care what happened to them. It’s a pitiful state of affairs when this becomes the only outlet for an individual vent their frustration. Citing the current economic conditions would be just an excuse since people know how to behave but decide not to. Children watch how their parents behave and it’s no wonder they act like animals in public. So, if their team doesn’t win it becomes perfectly acceptable to engage in violence or verbal attacks. I’ve had discussions with individuals on this very blog. They try to tell me it’s their culture or a trademark of one’s nationality. That is the reason why people aren’t required to show respect or common courteous to others. One guy from England told me because I am an American I shouldn’t place my high standards on other cultures. I never thought of them as high standards, just normal behavior. The same guy told me since we are talking about soccer or football being respectful goes out the window. I didn’t know acting sub-human was a characteristic of anyone’s culture or national identity. I enjoy sports a great deal and used to play tennis and golf regularly. I used to play baseball and football in my youth. I currently play soccer. Young people sometimes let things get out of control but that is where adults step in and provide guidance and leadership. However with parents and adults acting in the same fashion that can be a difficult thing to ask of them.

I am not saying people should be emotionless machines since that wouldn’t be human. On the other hand we aren’t animals and we know better or at least we used to. It’s okay to get upset or angry but we should always remember that line not to cross, which does separates us from the animals.

After 3 weeks of writing about what we could hope for against the 3 best teams in England, I thought I would have to find a different avenue this week. Hoping is ok against the big boys, but obviously after our difficult run of ‘hoping’, I was fully expecting a strong Newcastle team to bounce back in style.

It’s not so clear cut as that anymore though, with our squad seemingly crumbling as we enter one of the busiest periods on the footballing calendar.

This week we face Norwich, a team that like ourselves, are somewhat over performing and proving the critics wrong, currently sitting in a comfortable 11th position. With 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats at home, they haven’t exactly made Carrow Road a fortress, but they have managed to surprise a few, only being narrowly defeated by an in form Arsenal, and ensuring the great unwashed left with nothing except red faces.

At home they have taken points off Sunderland, Swansea and QPR, whilst drawing against Stoke and Blackburn, bar Stoke, all bottom half teams. Their two defeats have come at the hands of Arsenal and West Brom.

Newcastle make the long trip to Norfolk this weekend with players seemingly dropping like flies. Steven Taylor is out for the rest of the season, while Coloccini’s thigh problem makes him doubtful, although speaking on Wednesday night, he would not rule himself out. Mike Williamson appears to be still some weeks off full fitness, which leaves us worryingly short at the back. Numerous ideas have been thrown about, some suggesting Davide Santon should play at centre back, a position he has played at for Italy U21’s. Pardew seems to prefer to use Perch rather than youngster Kadar, and despite much criticism in the past, the ex-forest man performed quite well under testing circumstances when he was called upon last week. Beyond that there isn’t a lot to choose from, with the likes of Remie Streete, Jeff Henderson and Stephen Folan all untested at the top level.

In midfield Danny Guthrie is out for around a month, whilst Cheik Tiote has still not returned- To me it all seems a bit dodgy. At first he was meant to be back for the City game, then the United game, and now it looks like it will be mid-December at the earliest. Murmurings in the week suggested he could be off in January, with some saying Chelsea have already agreed a £20 million fee. If true it’s disappointing, but not entirely surprising. In his absence it seems Dan Gosling is poised to start alongside Yohan Cabaye. Gutierrez will be back from suspension, which will hopefully give Ryan Taylor the much needed defensive cover that was lacking against Chelsea. Marveaux remains out, so Obertan looks set to continue on the right.

Ironically, it is upfront, the position in which we tried and failed to bring in cover over the summer, that we are strongest, with all 3 first choice players; Ba, Best and Ben Arfa all fit. Shola came on last week and looked strong, but it seems that Pardew sees him as an impact sub, rather than 1st XI material.

After lacking many goals recently, it’s important that we get back to winning ways. Looking back on both the City and Chelsea game, we could have easily scored 2 or 3 in each game. It’s important that we don’t look back on every game with this sort of attitude, and instead become more clinical in front of goal. Our latest poor run of form has seen us slip down into a perhaps more realistic 6th place, with Fulham defeating Liverpool on Monday the only thing that stopped us dropping to 7th. The gap between us and our realistic contenders for 7th place- ie; Stoke, Villa, Everton – is currently 8 points. If we can keep that gap intact or even stretch it going into Christmas it will signal a very positive 1st half of the season.
Even with injury, our squad is good enough to get something against Norwich. They have looked good this season, but it is our games against the mid-table teams that really count, and if we want to be sat in the top 7 come the end of the season, its games like these that need to be won.

After an international break that saw England earn wins over Spain and Sweden, the Premier League returns to action this weekend.

One notable Saturday showdown sees the league’s best attacking team and the league’s best defensive team, according to Premier League statistics, face off in Manchester. But the match that will garner the most attention will be on Sunday at Stamford Bridge, as Chelsea and Liverpool meet.

Leaders City Host Surprising Magpies

The fact that Manchester City are top of the table at this point isn’t really all that big of a surprise, but the same can’t be said for Newcastle’s unbeaten start and current place in the top three.

This weekend, we’ll get to see just what Alan Pardew’s side is made of, as Saturday’s visit to City is by far their toughest test of the season.

Along with a fairly favorable slate, Newcastle have gotten off to their fine start on the back of, well, their back line. The Magpies have allowed only eight goals, fewest in the league, two fewer than City. Their back line will certainly be in for a test on Saturday against the league leaders, who have scored an astounding 39 goals thus far.

It’s hard to see anything other than a City win, but don’t rule out Newcastle coming away with a result. City have had slow starts against several opponents, and that could prove costly against Newcastle’s tight defense. If they fail to put Newcastle away early, they could find it hard to break through in the second half like they eventually did in wins over Swansea, Everton, Blackburn, and Wolves.

Chelsea, Liverpool Seek Statement Win

It would only make perfect sense if, after drawing at home against promoted sides Norwich and Swansea in two of their last three games before the break, Liverpool came out of the break and won at Chelsea.

Liverpool have away wins against Arsenal and Everton this season, but they’ve also fallen flat in a number of matches, losing 4-0 at Tottenham and drawing at home against Sunderland, Norwich, and Swansea.

But Luis Suarez, returns to Liverpool after bagging four against Chile in a World Cup qualifier, and if he’s still riding that high, FA charge and all, that could mean trouble for Chelsea. A win for Liverpool would bring them level on points with Chelsea, who are two spots ahead of the Reds in fourth, and it’d go a long way in restoring confidence that they have what it takes to finish in the top four this season.

It’ll be interesting to see if the break came at a good time for Chelsea, who haven’t had the best time of it recently. That includes a 5-3 home loss to Arsenal, in which Robin van Persie netted a hat trick and Arsenal scored four second-half goals.

Chelsea need a win to avoid falling further behind City, as they’re nine points back of the leaders already, and they need to make a statement to show that they‘re still the title contender that they were expected to be coming into the season.

Oh, and there’s also the small matter of Fernando Torres, still searching for some consistency, facing off against his former team. Not like that’s going to garner a lot of attention or anything…

United Visit Improving Swansea

In their first few months of Premier League life, Swansea City have been to the Etihad Stadium, the Emirates, Stamford Bridge, and Anfield. On Saturday, they finally get to host one of the Premier League’s big boys, as Manchester United, who currently sit five points behind City in second, come to the Liberty Stadium.

It may not be an easy time for United. Swansea have no doubt gained a lot of experience from their tough travels, and they also come hot at home. Brendan Rodgers’ side has three home wins on the trot, and overall, they’re unbeaten in their first five home league matches this season.

It is worth noting that those wins were against West Brom (15th), Stoke City (12th), and Bolton (18th), but they come into their showdown with United having impressively held Liverpool to a goalless draw in their last match before the international break.

However, you have to expect United to take care of business on the road, especially if Ashley Young and Tom Cleverley are able to take part after recent injury concerns, which would provide a real lift for a United attack that has fallen off since a fast start.

North London Rivals Look to Stay Hot

Both Tottenham and Arsenal took early lumps this season, but those lumps are a distant memory now, as the North London rivals went into the break as two of the hottest teams in the Premier League.

Spurs lost their first two matches of the season to Manchester City and Manchester United by a combined 8-1. Since then, they haven’t lost in the league, going 7-1-0 and recording wins over Liverpool and Arsenal. That run now has them fifth, level on points with Chelsea with a game in hand.

On Monday, they host Aston Villa, who sit in 8th, seven points behind Spurs. Villa have only three wins this season and are winless away from home, but they’ve notched six draws, including four on the road, so they will be a challenge.

As hot as Spurs have been recently, their arch-rivals aren’t doing too shabby themselves. Since their 2-1 defeat at White Hart Lane last month, which was their fourth league defeat in only seven games, Arsenal have won their last four league matches and are unbeaten in their last seven matches in all competitions.

That four-match league win streak is thanks in large part to Robin van Persie, who has scored eight of the 13 goals the Gunners have scored in that run, but Arsenal have also gotten production from some of their several summer additions, with Gervinho scoring in a 3-1 win over Stoke, Andre Santos netting a key equalizer in the win at Chelsea, and Mikel Arteta opening his Arsenal account with a goal in their 3-0 win over West Brom before the break.

Extending that run to five straight wins won’t be easy, as they visit Norwich City on Saturday. Norwich, who sit only two spots behind the Gunners in ninth, not only drew at Liverpool, but they also gave a very good account of themselves in defeats at Chelsea and Manchester United and could (and perhaps should) have come away with both of those matches with a positive result.

For detailed statistics, in-depth match previews and reports, and much more from the Premier League and many other leagues and competitions around the world, visit WhoScored.com.

After an October that’s seen marauding Manchester City take hold of top spot, what does November hold for the Premier League?

October’s been a month full of derbies, from Merseyside to Midlands to Manchester, and it’ll be hard for any month this season to top all that’s been packed into October. However, while November might have fewer notable matches, there are still some tasty encounters to look forward to.

Chelsea v Liverpool, 20 November

Stamford Bridge is one of the toughest places in Europe for an away team to get a positive result, and Chelsea have started the season with a perfect record in their fortress, so Liverpool will have their work cut out.

However, they have recent history in their favor, as the Reds have won in two of their last three Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge, including a 1-0 win there in February.

A lot of pre-match and in-match comments will be about Fernando Torres going up against his former team, but it’ll also be the same situation for Blues midfielder Raul Meireles, who scored the winner for Liverpool in that February match, which came only a week after Torres swapped Liverpool for London in a British-record £50m move.

Torres appears to have finally be on the way back to being his best after struggling in his first several months at Chelsea, so it will be interesting to see if he can put any emotion to the side and spearhead a victory for his new team, or if heíll find himself on the losing end against his old team once again.

The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge is sure to be tense, and if you want to be a part of it all, Premier League tickets are available at TicketBis.

Liverpool v Manchester City, 27 November

The next month looks relatively favorable for current Premier League leaders City, who have Wolves at home, QPR away, and Newcastle at home. So, they should still be unbeaten and holding steady at the top of the table going into a tough tie at Anfield.

City passed their first real test of the season with flying colors, as they made the most of their man advantage in thrashing archrivals Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford, but this will represent the first of a few big tests in the span of a few weeks, as they visit Chelsea on December 12 and have what could be a tricky home match against Arsenal on December 18.

Liverpool still havenít fully found their feet, as shown by how they werenít able to turn domination into victory in last weekend’s 1-1 home draw with Norwich. But they do have the talent to go toe-to-toe with City at home, and by the time this match rolls around, Kenny Dalglish’s side will have had a few more matches to gel and build confidence and continuity, including their trip to Chelsea a week before this clash.

If youíre looking to buy Premier League tickets online, you can find them at TicketBis, an online tickets exchange that helps football fans buy and sell tickets online for many matches in England and throughout Europe.

The Premier League had no shortage of talking points this weekend but the only place to start is at Old Trafford. In spite of a formidable recent record against City, United came unstuck in an unprecedented manner. City were so clinical in attack with Silva and Balotelli particularly awesome. City will rightly generate praise for this performance; it is reminiscent of Barca dismantling Real 6-2 a few seasons back. So what next for United? It is too early to be panicking yet, but their defending was so abject and naïve you have to wonder whether it is the end of the road for Ferdinand and Evra, still not to dwell on their misery, hats off to City for a championship like performance.

Other notable talking points from the weekend include the poor standard of officiating. Again it seems to be a topic debated on a weekly basis, yet some of the decisions were baffling. How Hutton stayed on the pitch after that disgusting challenge is beyond me, he should get a three game ban! WBA penalty award was Ludicrous! Olsen didn’t even look for a free and that sending off… what a joke. While in the Chelsea game the first sending off was a booking at worst. While QPR were fortunate to win for not having the courage and conviction to attack a depleted yet determined Chelsea side. On that performance today in spite of the loss, I feel Chelsea will be there for the long haul and perhaps look a better bet to tackle City at the moment than anyone else, with Torres in form they will be quite formidable.

Newcastle again contrived to keep their fans on edge until their new French magician delivered a sumptuous goal worthy of winning any game. Wigan fans do not despair if they continue to perform at that level for the remainder of the season they will be fine. Liverpool and Norwich was a belter of a game and Norwich deserve all the plaudits. They could have easily won the game, but for Liverpool a poor second half performance was compounded by only giving Carroll ten minutes! For 35 million he should have got a half an hour at least! They need to trust him after investing so much. Spurs continued their impressive run with a hard fought away win at Blackburn. Steve Kean is growing increasingly desperate in attempts to quell the supporter’s discontent and if they don’t pick up points soon, it will be cheerio to Mr Kean. A wonderful second half performance by Sunderland capped by a well taken second goal lifted the gloom surrounding Bruce’s charges. Bolton need some home wins quickly.

Everton as so often is their way produced a wonderful away win over a struggling Fulham side. Everton United next weekend should be a tasty affair. However, the article must conclude with reference to two men one under pressure the other in my opinion has been the premier league player of the season. To Mick McCarthy well done! He made the right call with his subs and deserves more respect form the Wolves supporters than he has been getting. He has done a tremendous job there and they well come on from this result, what price for a draw against City next Saturday at the Etihad? Robin Van Persie, the man of the moment, he is just in such a rich vein of form. He is unstoppable, for my money he has been as good as Silva this season. He is carrying Arsenal at the moment and with him in such exquisite form they are back to being a threat.

One consolation for United fans your team may have lost 6-1 but at least ye can say Fletcher scored the goal of the game.

Since yesterday all current Newcastle United season ticket holders were able to purchase further season tickets at a special half-price rate according to the club’s website. The move comes after a fantastic start to the season for the Magpies on the pitch, but a slightly disappointing average attendance at home games.

The price cut offers Magpies fans the opportunity to watch the club’s remaining 14 home league fixtures for an average of just under £15.

Managing director Derek Llambias said “We have been delighted with the tremendous start we have made to the season so far, and the fantastic support of our fans.

“What we’d like to do now is encourage even more supporters to come to St. James’ Park and get behind the team.

“The atmosphere of a full house at Newcastle United is hard to beat and I know from talking to Alan, his coaching staff and the players just how much it lifts the team and can give us the edge.

“We also know how difficult it is for many people to afford to follow the team, especially in the current economic climate.

“Our aim is to make supporting Newcastle United as affordable as possible for as many people as possible. On top of the 10-year price freeze we introduced in the summer, this is another initiative we are sure will be popular.”

A crowd of 48,321 were at St James’ on Saturday to witness Yohann Cabaye score his first goal for the club as Newcastle beat a determined Wigan by one goal to nil. The victory sees the Magpies maintain their unbeaten start to the season and their surprise position in the top four of the league.