· December 14 2024, 13:53
**Eddie Howe has named his Newcastle United side to take on Leicester City in the 3pm kick-off at St James' Park.**
Newcastle have been forced into one change with Nick Pope set to be out of action for a month. Martin Dubravka has come in to replace him with Odysseas Vlachodimos on the bench.
Joe Willock has been passed fit but has to make do with a spot on the bench, which makes sense given that just yesterday we weren't expecting him to be involved at all.
Jacob Murphy keeps his place on the right flank after nabbing two assists last week against Brentford.
11/11
We were spot on with our team prediction
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Sandro Tonali has been restored to the starting XI as we suspected with our 11/11 prediction.
The personnel have all the capability required to put in the right kind of performance today, but it all depends on the players' headspace around kick-off.
We know we have what it takes to beat Leicester City, we just need the players to believe in themselves.
Leicester City's XI looks very weak
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Thankfully, the Leicester City XI doesn't look particularly strong at all thanks to their injury issues.
Octogenarian Jamie Vardy leads the line for the visitors and the £1 million megastar Newcastle couldn't afford, Hamzah Choudhury starts in midfield.
I really don't want to tempt fate because it always blows up in my face, but honestly, if we don't win this today, the meltdown is going to be epic!