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Newcastle next Away form separates Man Utd from the Premiership pack
Updated: Thursday December 28, 2000 11:44 AM
LONDON (AP) -- Refusing to falter during a stint without several key players, Manchester United heads to Newcastle on Saturday confident it can maintain the away form that has separated the reigning champions from the rest of the Premiership pack. Missing the services of forwards Teddy Sheringham, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, Man United has maintained an eight-point lead over second-place Arsenal by relying on Norwegian striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Solskjaer has scored all three of the team's goals in the past two matches, including a second-half header on Boxing Day that propelled the club to a 1-0 away win at Aston Villa. "The lad is one of the best finishers I have known," manager Alex Ferguson said this week. The victory raised Man United's away record to six wins, three draws and one loss - a statistic that defines the gap between the champs and top contenders Arsenal, Sunderland, Leicester and Liverpool. Arsenal and Sunderland are undefeated at home, while Leicester and Liverpool have one home loss apiece. But the four clubs have been less than spectacular in away matches: Arsenal and Leicester have four losses each, Sunderland five and Liverpool six. "To be frank, I don't really know what it is because we try to play the same way in every game," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Saturday after demolishing Leicester 6-1 at Highbury. "We are strong at home and that is always the basis of a good season, but I know I have to find the solution to why we are not doing it away." The English Premier League is in the middle of a four-match holiday stretch that spans just 10 days. On Saturday it's: Arsenal vs. Sunderland, Aston Villa vs. Leicester, Bradford vs. Liverpool, Everton vs. Leeds, Ipswich vs. Tottenham, Manchester City vs. Charlton, Middlesbrough vs. Coventry, Newcastle vs. Manchester United, Southampton vs. Derby, and West Ham vs. Chelsea. Newcastle is also suffering from a hobbled front line with Alan Shearer and Carl Court out with long-term injuries. Stand-in captain Warren Barton has said it will be up to Magpies' young guns - 22-year-old Kieron Dyer and 19-year-old Shola Ameobi - to replace the veteran Shearer, out for three months after knee surgery Wednesday. "It's hard when you lose people like that, but the rest of us believe in ourselves and we know we can come through it," Barton said after a come-from-behind victory over Leeds on Tuesday. Yorke is expected to be back in Man United's lineup after finishing a three-match suspension. Third-place Sunderland travels to Highbury in a battle of hot strikers. The Gunners' Thierry Henry and Sunderland's Kevin Phillips each scored hat tricks Tuesday en route to victories. Liverpool, winner of only two away matches this season, returns to a venue of bitter disappointment when it faces Bradford at Valley Parade. Bradford denied Liverpool a spot in the Champions League last year with a season-ending victory the Bantams desperately needed to avoid dropping to the First Division. Liverpool, which appeared unstoppable after back-to-back wins against Man United and Arsenal, is suddenly soul searching after a 1-0 away loss to Middlesbrough on Tuesday. "If any game spelled out to us the need for consistency, Middlesbrough was it," 'keeper Sander Westerveld said. "It's not much good beating the top teams if we lose to the ones at the bottom." Two other contenders coming off stinging losses meet when Aston Villa hosts Leicester. Just days after talk of joining next season's Champions League, Villa's leadership is suddenly in disarray following a 1-0 home loss the Man United. Manager John Gregory took his frustrations out on club chairman Doug Ellis, publicly accusing him of being "stuck in a time warp" and refusing to spend money to attract top talent. Ellis was quoted later saying he was "furious with what has been said." The two were expected to meet privately Thursday. Chelsea also appears in a funk heading into an away match against West Ham. After leading 2-0 against Ipswich and slipping to a 2-2 draw, Blues captain Dennis Wise was quoted by several newspapers questioning coach Claudio Ranieri's frequent adjustments during matches. Spirits are high at Middlesbrough ahead of a home match against Coventry. Since the arrival of Terry Venables as head coach, the second-to-last 'Boro has lost narrowly to Sunderland, drawn with Tottenham and beaten Chelsea and Liverpool. "There is no magic here, just a lot of people working hard behind the scenes," Venables said this week. In the English First Division on Saturday: Barnsley vs. Watford, Blackburn vs. Crewe, Bolton vs. West Brom, Fulham vs. Birmingham, Gillingham vs. Tranmere, Grimsby vs. Portsmouth, Huddersfield vs. Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest vs. Norwich, Queens Park Rangers vs. Crystal Palace, Sheffield United vs. Preston, Wimbledon vs. Stockport. The Scottish Premier League also has full slate Saturday: Aberdeen vs. St. Mirren, Celtic vs. Motherwell, Dundee vs. Dunfermline, Hibernian vs. Dundee United, Kilmarnock vs. Rangers, and St. Johnstone vs. Hearts.
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