Newcastle’s Ba and Cisse poised for Aston Villa return

Aston Villa appear most likely to be the opposition when Newcastle are first able to pair new signing Papiss Demba Cisse with Senegalese compatriot Demba Ba in attack in the Premier League.

There was the possibility that the duo would not return to the Sports Direct Arena until the home clash with Wolves in late February if Senegal reached the final of the African Nations Cup, as many people believed they would.

However, Senegal have massively underachieved in the tournament, losing their first two fixtures in Group A against Zambia and Equatorial Guinea.

This means that they cannot now qualify for the quarter finals and so the squad will be free to return to their respective clubs after the showdown with Libya on January 29th.

There is therefore a small possibility that the strike duo could feature away at Blackburn three days later, but in all likelihood it will be the home meeting with Aston Villa on February 5th where they will be ready to take part.

Ba will almost certainly start in this game and if he is paired with Cisse, 1/1 could be a big price in the Premier League odds that Newcastle beat Aston Villa at the Sports Direct Arena.

The big development for Newcastle is that Ba’s early return in particular means that he has not missed too many Premier League games and so they are still in with a big opportunity to finish in the top four.

Ba has only missed the win over QPR and the defeat at Fulham to date and this could be it as there is certainly the option of naming him on the bench for the trip to Blackburn.

Newcastle are currently sixth in the Premier League standings but remain only five points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea.

So, 25/1 still looks great value on Newcastle finishing in the top four and playing in the Champions League next season.