It’s a huge seven days for Eddie Howe’s Mags and time to predict which 11 the Newcastle boss will select for today’s 3pm kick-off at home to Leicester City
Callum Wilson (hamstring) is ruled out along with Nick Pope (knee). Joe Willock (hamstring) could return, but we’ll be without Sven Botman (knee), Emil Krafth (collarbone) and Jamaal Lascelles (knee) once again.
Here’s the starting XI we expect Howe to go with and why against Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s Leicester.
**Predicted XI:** Dubravka – Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall – Bruno, Tonali, Joelinton – Murphy, Isak, Gordon.
This would mean THREE changes from Saturday’s 4-2 defeat at Brentford, seeing Pope, Longstaff and Barnes dop out for Dubravka, Tonalu and Gordon.
In goal, it sounds like Dubravka will get the nod ahead of Vlachodimos, with the Slovakian thought to be ahead of the Greek in the pecking order behind Pope; who will be out for a month with a knee injury.
I’ve gone without him in my predicted XI, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Trippier got a start here, as his technical ability, link-up play and superior delivery to Livramento could help alleviate our struggles to break down ‘lesser’ sides at home,
Tonali will surely return in midfield after fatigue saw him benched at Brentford. Longstaff is suspended for the Brentford cup tie next week, but he feels like the obvious player to drop out and Willock is yet to train, leaving him unlikely to start.
Out wide, Gordon should come back in down our left after looking far better in his best position in that 3-3 draw with Liverpool. That could see Barnes drop out despite his goal at Brentford, with Murphy bagging two assists at the Gtech after a lively display against Liverpool last week.
Up top, it will be Isak who leads the line against a leaky Leicester defence. With Wilson ruled out for two months, it’ll be interesting to see if Osula gets any minutes of the bench after praise from Howe in Friday’s press conference.
How do you see us lining up? Comment below with your predicted line-ups…