Premier League preview: Fulham v Newcastle

Newcastle United will begin life without Andy Carroll when they travel to Fulham in the Premier League on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old striker has played a huge role in guiding Newcastle to ninth spot in the league this campaign in just their first season back in the top flight, but has now made the move west to Premier League rival Liverpool for a whopping 35 million pounds.

The Magpies were reluctant to let the England international leave St James’ Park, but the British record transfer fee proved too good to pass up.

However, a thigh injury has kept Carroll out of the Newcastle line-up since late December, meaning manager Alan Pardew has had time to reshuffle his forward pack.

Captain Kevin Nolan will take on the bulk of the responsibility for scoring goals for Pardew’s side, beginning on Wednesday against Fulham, with the veteran having already struck 10 times this season.

The Cottagers have moved to address their own goal scoring issues by signing former Barcelona and Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen from Stoke.

Fulham have scored just 25 goals in 24 matches this season, making them the fifth-lowest scoring side in the Premier League.

Key striker Bobby Zamora has been sidelined for most of the season with a broken leg, and manager Mark Hughes will no doubt be hoping Gudjohnsen can help take some of the pressure off midfielder Clint Dempsey, who tops Fulham’s goal scoring list with eight.

Fulham had no problems finding the back of the net in their FA Cup fourth-round tie against Tottenham on Sunday, with Hughes’ side hammering Spurs 4-0 at Craven Cottage.

Newcastle have been away at a training camp in Portugal for the past week and should be well rested for what should be an intense contest.