Newcastle United will be back in Premier League action tonight when they host Liverpool at St James’ Park, and Eddie Howe could be set to make changes.
The Magpies will be looking for redemption this evening after having a disappointing run since the international break and with the home support under the lights, there is no better setting for them to achieve it.
Liverpool are currently unbeaten bar one defeat to Nottingham Forest this season in all competitions, and have become a formidable force under Arne Slot in both the Premier League and Champions League.
It will be no easy task for Newcastle, as they have failed to take all three points on home turf from the Merseyside giants since December 2015 and their current attacking prowess will be challenging to defend.
Having said that, the Geordies have had success in recent weeks against teams in outstanding form, with a victory over Arsenal at home and another three points taken away from a high performing Nottingham Forest side at the City Ground.
It will be a huge test of how the Newcastle boss handles the pressure of not only being in a run of poor form, but if he can motivate and inspire the players to show the greatest resilience against the strongest opponent this evening.
In terms of injuries, Sven Botman and Jamaal Lascelles continue their recovery from ACL surgery but have begun their next steps in training for a return in the last few weeks.
Emile Krafth remains unavailable for selection with a shoulder injury, but the most concerning immediate injury concern is the bruised hip of Alexander Isak, who was sidelined early in the Crystal Palace clash at the weekend.
Howe took to his pre-match press conference yesterday to give a vague but positive insight into his fitness ahead of the Liverpool game:
“Alex took a knock to his hip; we haven’t seen him in training yet, but we don’t think it a long-term injury.”
How could Newcastle line up against Liverpool?
Nothing But Newcastle predicts that Howe will make one change to his starting eleven that drew with Palace, maintaining his 4-3-3 formation.
In the defensive set up, we expect Nick Pope to feature in goal with Lewis Hall, Dan Burn, Fabian Schar and Tino Livramento just ahead of him to form the back four taking on Liverpool’s attacking threat.
In the centre of the pitch, Brazilian sensation Bruno Guimaraes will retain his role in the deep lying position, while his compatriot Joelinton moves back into midfield joined by Italian star Sandro Tonali to complete the trio.
The attacking threat will be under pressure to make a quick start and impact at St James’ Park tonight, we predict that Anthony Gordon will be put back on the left wing to accommodate for Joelinton’s move back into midfield, while Jacob Murphy comes back into the starting eleven on the right to replace Joe Willock in the team.
Indeed, Alexander Isak may have missed some training this week, but there is no doubt that he is Newcastle’s biggest weapon in attack and if he is fit to play we expect he will be included in the starting line up this evening.