Hello, and welcome to our first liveblog of many today.

Here are the line-ups:

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Ryan Taylor, Guthrie, Perch, Gutierrez, Ba, Best. Subs: Elliot, Cisse, Ben Arfa, Gosling, Shola Ameobi, Obertan, Ferguson.

Aston Villa: Given, Hutton, Cuellar, Dunne, Warnock, Ireland, Petrov, Clark, N’Zogbia, Keane, Bent. Subs: Guzan, Heskey, Bannan, Weimann, Lichaj, Baker, Gardner.

And we’re underway…

Interestingly, there are five Ireland players starting for Aston Villa today,  while Leon Best is our sole representative in the Newcastle team.

Nothing much to report on so far. N’Zogbia has just shot wastefully wide in a decent position, after being set up by Robbie Keane.

To put into perspective how well Newcastle have performed this season (or perhaps how badly others have under-performed), they can go ahead of Arsenal and be level with Chelsea today if they win.

Leon Best has had to go off injured after a nasty block-cum-tackle from Stephen Warnock. The new man, Cisse, has replaced him.

Robbie Keane has started this game well, showing some nice touches and good movement off the ball.

Newcastle remind me a bit of Aston Villa under Martin O’Neill – over-achievers despite not exactly looking like world beaters at times.

Despite the well-documented weather problems elsewhere, Tyneside is looking decidedly snow-free, and there’s even a hint of sunshine by the looks of things.

Warnock is now receiving treatment. It hasn’t been the most entertaining or free-flowing of games so far.

Great through ball from, of all people, Richard Dunne, and Bent uncharacteristically misses a one-on-one. Krul got down well to make the save, to be fair.

GOAL FOR NEWCASTLE!

A dangerous cross is played in by Guthrie that Richard Dunne can only half clear. Taylor’s subsequent shot richochets into the path of Demba Ba who taps into the empty net. The Senegalese international returns to club duty with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, Ryan Taylor has been replaced by Gabriel Obertan, after the former was injured following Warnock’s despairing tackle, as the goal was scored.

Aston Villa may feel a tad aggrieved that they’re behind. They’ve more than held their own so far today, and yet still find themselves a goal down.

If anyone still doubts the importance of Demba Ba to Newcastle, this statistic highlights just how good he’s been lately:

Despite that Newcastle goal, Robbie Keane is still playing well. He’s pulling the strings in attack and looks like Villa’s most dangerous player at the moment.

Six minutes of first-half added time have just been announced. Is that some sort of record?

Cisse came very close to adding a second for Newcastle. He runs in behind Cuellar and meets a pinpoint cross perfectly. Unfortunately for the home side, it went the wrong side of the post.

GOAL FOR ASTON VILLA!

N’Zogbia beats his man and crosses to Robbie Keane, who slots it home unmarked. He’ s deserved that on the basis of his excellent first half performance.

HALF TIME: NEWCASTLE 1-1 ASTON VILLA

Here’s a great image of that Keane goal (Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/Press Association Images):



The scoreline is probably an accurate reflection of how that first half panned out. Aston Villa would have been very unlucky to have been trailing at half time.

Barry Bannan has replaced Stephen Ireland at half time – a defensive substitution, which perhaps indicates that McLeish would be happy to take a draw from this game.

As the second half gets underway, Given – unusually for him – fails to deal with a cross, and Villa just about manage to scramble it away thereafter.

Like much of the first half, the second period has been a relatively cagey affair thus far.

Villa are looking very well-organised at the back, and there are a few unforced errors creeping into Newcastle’s game – a sign of their growing frustration perhaps.

Newcastle still look short of ideas and are struggling to create chances – not Champions League form by any means.

As not much is happening at the moment, here’s a poll.

Assuming City, United and Spurs qualify, who do you think will get the extra Champions League spot?

Cisse has just headed a very good chance, from a Guthrie cross, over the bar. He hasn’t had the best of debuts so far, I’m afraid.

Heskey has replaced N’Zogbia. Despite creating the goal, the Frenchman has been frustratingly inconsistent with his crossing today.

GOAL FOR NEWCASTLE!

I don’t think you’ll see a better goal than that this weekend. Gutierrez produces a hopeful cross into the box and Cisse takes one touch on the edge of the box, before striking it beautifully into the top corner.

Again, Newcastle lead without playing particularly well. However, Villa have been very negative in this second half and perhaps, on the basis of their lack of ambition, deserve to be behind.

Keane looked furious there. He tried to play a one-two with Bent, but was clearly blocked off by Williamson. Poor decision from the referee to ignore it.

Meanwhile, Clark’s well-struck shot is parried away by Krul.

Incredible stuff! Great ball in from Bannan, and Gardner’s header is superbly saved by Krul, who then gathers it at the second attempt with Bent lurking.

Demba Ba receives a warm round of applause as he’s replaced by Shola Ameobi. Three minutes of added time to be played.

FULL TIME: NEWCASTLE 2-1 ASTON VILLA

Ultimately, Newcastle won it without playing particularly well. However, they do say that that’s the mark of a great team, and if Cisse can keep producing moments of brilliance like he has today, perhaps a Champions League spot will start to seem like a genuine possibility for the Tyneside club.

Alright, that’s it from me. Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend.