Opinion
Looking at the Newcastle team v Brentford.
Eddie Howe and his players hoping to continue the levels of thier last two excellent [St James’ Park](https://www.themag.co.uk/2024/12/st-james-park-no-wonder-it-hurts-so-much-newcastle-united-fans/) performances against Liverpool and Leicester.
As opposed to the match in between those two games, when poor defending and a dire second half condemned United to a 4-2 away defeat in their most recent away game at… Brentford.
United one step away from a two-legged semi-final, all to play for.
So what can we expect the Newcastle team v Brentford to be?
**As a starting point, this was the Newcastle team v Brentford:**
Dubravka, Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Bruno, Joelinton, Murphy, Isak, Gordon
Eddie Howe gave an injury and availability update on Tuesday morning.
The good news, was that there were no new injuries to report after the Leicester match.
Sean Longstaff is suspended for this game, with it looks like another five definitely missing, due to injury/recovery still underway.
So the likes of Callum Wilson, Nick Pope, Emil Krafth, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman set to miss as well.
**Anyway, my take on all of this, my best guesstimate of the Newcastle team v Brentford is:**
Dubravka, Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Bruno, Joelinton, Murphy, Isak, Gordon
So that would mean zero changes.
These are very different circumstances to when Eddie Howe felt he could only name Gordon and Tonali on the bench at Brentford, after the Liverpool game.
There were less than 72 hours between those two matches and all the players had to give it everything all the way in that Liverpool match.
This time, there is over four days since that Leicester match and going 3-0 up in 50 minutes, it meant Newcastle United could cruise to victory and Eddie Howe make multiple subs to rest key players in the closing stages.
Considering how well the team played against Leicester, I find it difficult to believe the NUFC boss will make any changes to his eleven tonight.
**Newcastle United upcoming matches:**
**Wednesday 18 December** – [Newcastle v Brentford](https://www.themag.co.uk/2024/11/we-cant-complain-about-newcastle-v-brentford-quarter-final-scheduling-advantage-united-newcastle-united/) (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 (FA Cup)
**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)
**Saturday 1 February –** Newcastle v Fulham (3pm)
**Saturday 15 February –** Man City v Newcastle (3pm)
**Sunday 23 February –** Newcastle v Forest (2pm) Sky Sports