Premier League preview: Wolves v Newcastle

Early season surprise packet Newcastle United face a Wolves side in desperate need of a win when the teams clash at Molineux on Saturday.

Alan Pardew’s Newcastle are unbeaten in their six Premier League matches so far this season, their longest unbeaten start to a top flight season since Kevin Keegan took them 17 games without loss to begin the 1994/95 campaign.

Much of the reason for their success lies in the strong partnership between Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor in the centre of defence, which has seen them concede just three goals so far.

In midfield, they have replaced Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton with French midfielder Yohan Cabaye, whose industry and vision have been crucial, while up front Leon Best and Demba Ba have scored three goals apiece.

In their most recent match, Newcastle posted a 3-1 win over Blackburn and they are sitting in fourth place on the table, just four points adrift of leaders Manchester United and Manchester City.

Mick McCarthy’s Wolves side, meanwhile, are in 12th place.

Since beginning the season in a blaze of glory with wins against Blackburn and Fulham, Wolves have claimed just one point from their last four games and they were beaten 2-1 by Liverpool at Anfield in their last start.

Both managers have some concerns from the treatment room, with Wolves defender Richard Stearman struggling to be fit with a badly bruised toe.

Another defender, Ronald Zubar, emerged unscathed from 70 minutes in the reserves, but striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, midfielder Kevin Foley and defender Jody Craddock are all still out.

Pardew has some fitness worries of his own, although he will be buoyed by seeing long-term casualty Hatem Ben Arfa making it through a quarter of an hour against Blackburn.

Italian full back Davide Santon will miss out after picking up a knee injury in training while Alan Smith is still troubled with a hamstring injury.