Newport County vs Swansea preview

 For the first time since a 2-0 away defeat to Carlisle United back in March, Newport county play their first competitive match in the league cup at home to Swansea city in the first round of the league cup.

Over the past couple of seasons county have been known to be giant killers in cup competitions with wins over the likes of Middlesbrough, Leeds and Leicester city and a win against the swans would be the sweetest victory of the lot in the eyes of many county fans due to this being a welsh derby. In my opinion the biggest leveler has been taken away in the fans. For me the fans are the 12th man especially in big games and its such a shame that the game is being played behind close because with fans it would make the occasion more special but the game itself will still be a big game as a welsh derby

 We ended the shortened season on a poor run of form with 2 wins in the last 9 which cannot continue into this season. I put that run down to inconsistent formations. One game we'd play a 4-2-3-1 next game we'd play a 3-5-2 and we'd just change formation it seemed like every game whereas in the play off campaign every game we'd play a 3-5-2 when attacking and 5-3-2 when defending. If we go back to the 5-3-2 then I think our form will dramatically improve.

Our opponents Swansea city will be on a bit of a high following there play off campaign even though they lost out to Brentford 3-2 on aggregate in the semi final back in July. With the strange start to the season and this game being played during an international window this means that Swansea will be weakened by the missing Connor Roberts Bersant Celina and Ben Cabango but they will still be strong with them having a good squad which you would expect from a championship club.

Personally I think county could scrape a win by the odd goal or even on penalties. It will be a close game but my concern is the fitness of the county players because we haven't played a competitive game in around 6 months. This could play a part in the last 10-15 minutes of the match especially if we are trying to hold on to a lead and defending for our lives.

In my opinion County will win 2-1 with goals coming from Padraig Amond and Tristan Abrahams

This is my opinion let me know what you think down below in the comments or on my social media my twitter is @absoultecounty or Instagram @absolutely_county

premier league prediction

At the start of the season I made some predictions for the top 4 of the premier league. Well I was very wrong. Hope you enjoy

 1: Manchester city
  Who can stop them? No one can I believe. They have strengthened to an already perfect team with the arrival of Rodri from Atletico Madrid and Joao Cancelo from Juventus with Danilo going to the old lady.
 2: Liverpool
 I believe Liverpool will be runners up again. However the title race won't be as close as it was last season. The reason for this will be the lack of signings in the summer transfer window. There will be more of a race for Second between Liverpool and Tottenham.
 3: Tottenham
 Like I said with Liverpool I think Tottenham will run Liverpool close for second place. The signings of Ndomble, Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon will strengthen the Champions league finalists. They needed to sign some big players which they have. Rumors of Christian Eriksen leaving will be the only thing stopping the Lily white's and challenging for 2nd place.
 4: Manchester United

The signing of Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will significantly improve a shaky defense from last season. The inexperience of Ole Gunna Solskaer won't help them but with Chelsea's transfer ban and losing Eden Hazard, there best player to real Madrid also I don't think Arsenal will challenge due to lack of improvement to there defense.

5 welsh players who will benefit from the postponement of Euro 2020

With the Euro's being postponed until 2021 I will be looking at 5 players who will be looking to benefit from this

1. Joe Allen

Some say he is our most influential player. Well he definitely proved it in 2016 by getting into the team of the tournament with some outstanding performances in France. However just before lock down he ruptured his Achilles. But now he has a chance to get fit again and hopefully next season he can play in a better stoke team with their new manager in charge where he can hopefully help them push up the league towards promotion.

2. Ethan Ampadu

A 2020 golden boy nominee Ampadu has struggled for game time this season on loan at RB Leipzig from Chelsea. However when he did play for Leipzig in the champions league round of 16 first leg against spurs he caught the eye with a magnificent performance. Next season I expect him to go to either a low premier league club or a high championship team where hopefully he will get a full season under his belt to develop and prove his wonder kid status.

3. David brooks

I believe that Brooks is better than both Grealish and James Maddison. Whilst those two players have proved there class this season Brooks has been out for almost a year with an ankle injury. He made his first start of the season against crystal palace and he looked impressive. Bournemouth look likely to be relegated and if they do go down I can see brooks moving to a top 10 club with him being able to play as an attacking midfielder or on the wing teams will like his versatility. Either way he will be a premier league player next season

4. Dylan Levitt

Now not many people will have have heard of Dylan but the has been impressing in the u23 squad at Manchester United. He impressed enough to get himself a call up to the last wales squad. He's even made his United first team debut this season against FC Astana in the UEFA Europa League. Rumors are going around saying that he will be sent out on loan next season which can only do him good with his first season of "proper football" in the lower leagues of England. Hopefully he can impress enough to get himself into the wales squad.

5. Neco Williams

Now I'm really excited by Neco. He's made only a handful of appearances for Liverpool this season mainly in the cups but when he has played he has been one of the best player on the pitch. With Liverpool winning the premier league this could be the opportunity he needs to establish a place in the Liverpool first team. Many pundits are claiming that there current right back Trent Alexander-Arnold will move into central midfield Neco could be the player to step up and claim that spot at the starting Right back. He will definitely be going to the Euros next summer with Wales unless he picks up a major injury in the next 12 months. He is a very exciting prospect who could get a first team spot in the premier league champions squad.

This is my opinion. Please let me know what you think! Also follow my Twitter @lukelewis2004 and my Instagram @Absolutely_county

 

Morecambe preview

As many county fans try to put the 5-0 hammering from last Saturdays game to forget away to Oldham at the back of their minds attentions quickly turn to this Saturdays match at home to 22nd in the league Morcambe. Many county fans such as me will have fond memories of playing the shrimps as we got into the plays off last season away to Morecambe on the final day of the season. At the moment Morecambe are not in the greatest of form with only 1 win in there last 7 matches with only win came against fellow struggle's Macclesfield.Currently Morcambe are 10 points clear of safety. They would be in more trouble if there were the 2 normal relegation places but due to Bury's expulsion from the football league there is only 1 relegation place in league 2 this season. In there last match Morcambe played with a 4-3-3 formation. However Adam Phillips, a central midfielder was sent off late on in the game. A relief for all county fans is the news that there will be no Kevin Ellison for the visitors on Saturday. Ellison has been a thorn in county's side over the past few years with 6 goals and 6 assists over the past 13 games against us.
 
  However county are not in the best of form conceding 9 goals in there past 2 games many county fans are obviously feeling disappointed about our recent form but i think we need to stick with the team to help them through the bad patch and personally I think its only a patch of bad form because if you look at last season our incredible run that got us into the play offs started around this time last season after a run of bad form so I think its not all doom and gloom. Injuries to key players like Ryan Haynes, Ashley Baker and most importantly Mark O'Brien who in my opinion has been one of our most important and best performing players this season hasn't helped this run we're currently on especially because players haven't been playing in there best positions. The main reason for me as to why were on this poor run of form is down to formation. I believe that our best formation is 3-5-2 but flynny has been playing more like a 4-1-2-1-2.
   All things considered I believe that county will win this game at rodney parade 3-1

This is my opinion please let me know what you think of this in the comments also don't forget to follow me on Instagram: absolutely_county and on twitter @lukelewis2004.