TEAM NEWS:
Newcastle striker Yoan Gouffran will miss Thursday night's Europa League clash with Metalist Kharkiv with the leg injury he suffered at Tottenham. However, the Frenchman is expected to resume training on Monday after X-rays revealed there was no fracture as was first feared. Hatem Ben Arfa (knee) continues to work his way back to full fitness, but fellow midfielder Sammy Ameobi is out with a hamstring problem.
Metalist are in their pre-season so have spent the past week enjoying the countryside of England's North East. They took a 23-man squad to Durham, where they are staying at Redworth Hall. A 1-1 draw with local side Whitley Bay saw no major problems.
MANAGER QUOTES:
Alan Pardew : "When we finished last year and we finished fifth [in the Premier League] and I looked at the team, we haven't really had that team to put out at any stage of this competition. Even against Bordeaux, I wouldn't say that was my best team, although we played well that night in the home game. Now I am back to a team that's very similar to the one I had last year in terms of strength and quality - Yohan Cabaye, Steven Taylor, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Moussa Sissoko - they have strengthened our hand, so for sure we are looking stronger in this competition. Hopefully we can get through this tie and if we get through this tie, and hopefully get a couple of favourable Premier League results, suddenly we can really look forward to it. But we are obviously going up a level in terms of opposition. No disrespect to Bordeaux, who won our group, but Metalist are a little bit stronger than them and this is a huge test for us."
Myron Markevych: To follow...
MATCH FACTS:
This will be the first meeting between Newcastle United and Metalist Kharkiv.
Newcastle’s four previous matches against Ukrainian opposition have all been against Dynamo Kyiv (W2 D1 L1).
Newcastle have won 18 and lost none of their last 23 home games in the Europa League.
Metalist’s only clash with English opposition came in the 2007/08 Europa League. They were eliminated in the first round by Everton (4-3 on aggregate).
Kharkiv have won five and lost two of their last nine away matches in Europe.
Oleksandr Goryainov made 31 saves in the group stages; more than any other goalkeeper that reached the knock-out stages.
Gael Bigirimana was the only Newcastle player to feature in all six group games for the club.
No side scored more goals in the final 15 minutes of Europa League group stage matches than Metalist Kharkiv (5).
Only Partizan Belgrade (56) and Molde (61) committed fewer fouls in the group stages than Newcastle (63).
Kharkiv picked up just five yellow cards in their six group games; meaning they had the best disciplinary record of any side.
MATCH ODDS:
Newcastle 23/20, Metalist 12/5, Draw 23/10
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