Looking at the Newcastle team v Brentford.
Eddie Howe and his players hoping to build on that excellent performance and more than deserved point against Liverpool.
Newcastle back to the kind of form they showed in early November, that cup win over Chelsea and then Premier League victories over Arsenal and Forest.
In between, the home defeat to West Ham and that draw at Palace where Newcastle posed minimal threat when getting to the opposition penalty area.
So what can we expect the Newcastle team v Brentford to be?
As a starting point, this was the Newcastle team v Liverpool:
Pope, Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Bruno, Joelinton, Gordon, Isak, Jacob Murphy
Eddie Howe gave an injury and availability update on Friday morning.
Eddie Howe declaring that after that massive performance on Wednesday against Liverpool, the challenge is to ‘refuel and regroup’, then try to match those performance levels three days later against Brentford.
Alexander Isak – Eddie Howe said the striker was ‘fatigued’ after his exertions against Liverpool. However, sounded like Isak is ok and set to be available for Brentford.
Sandro Tonali – The Head Coach said the Italy international was ‘cramping up’ in the final stages on Wednesday, though again, sounds as though fine for Saturday.
Anthony Gordon – Very much the same as Alexander Isak, Eddie Howe said Gordon also ‘fatigued’ after Liverpool. Set though to be ok by the sounds of it.
Kieran Trippier – Missed the Liverpool match due to ‘illness’, Eddie Howe said after the game. The NUFC Head Coach yesterday morning saying Trippier had improved, so would make a decision on whether he makes the Brentford squad after training on Friday.
So it sounds like Emil Krafth, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman are the only three who will be missing for sure tomorrow.
Anyway, my take on all of this, my best guesstimate of the Newcastle team v Brentford is:
Pope, Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Bruno, Joelinton, Willock, Gordon, Isak
So that would mean one change, Joe Willock coming in for Jacob Murphy.
Murphy played well on Wednesday night, as did all of his teammates.
However, I think Eddie Howe does really like that Willock/Joelinton combination on the left, it looked to be getting into the groove in those wins over Chelsea, Arsenal and Forest, before the team faltered against West Ham and Palace.
No surprise if Eddie Howe went with the exact same eleven that played against Liverpool but I think that even though Anthony Gordon would rather be on the left, the Head Coach will play him on the right today, to allow the Willock/Joelinton combo on the other side. As the performance and assist against Arsenal showed, Gordon is well capable of excelling on that right side as well.
The great unknown of course is exactly what physical condition each of the players is in after giving it their all against Liverpool.
Eddie Howe was never going to give anything concrete away at his press conference on Friday, as to anybody who potentially definitely won’t be available. So based on the available info and the fact that there is a full week before the next game (home to Leicester), hopefully all of Howe’s big players available to start today.
With the rain and strong winds forecast this afternoon, the bench will be even more important. So the likes of Wilson, Longstaff and Barnes could prove key to a positive Newcastle United outcome today, if indeed they are on the bench and not starting.
Newcastle United upcoming matches confirmed to end of January 2025:
Saturday 7 December – Brentford v Newcastle (3pm)
Saturday 14 December – Newcastle v Leicester (3pm)
Wednesday 18 December – Newcastle v Brentford (7.45pm) Sky Sports+ (Carabao Cup)
Saturday 21 December – Ipswich v Newcastle (3pm)
Thursday 26 December – Newcastle v Villa (3pm) Amazon
Monday 30 December – Man U v Newcastle (8pm) Sky Sports
Saturday 4 January – Tottenham v Newcastle (12.30pm) TNT Sports
Sunday 12 January – Newcastle v Bromley (3pm) BBC iPlayer
Wednesday 15 January – Newcastle v Wolves (7.30pm) TNT Sports
Saturday 18 January – Newcastle v Bournemouth (12.30pm) TNT Sports
Saturday 25 January – Southampton v Newcastle (3pm)