Newcastle United will be bidding to make it three wins on the trot in all competitions on Saturday when they make the trip to Portman Road to face newly promoted Ipswich Town.
The Magpies smashed Leicester City 4-0 at home in the Premier League last weekend, before booking their spot in the final four of the Carabao Cup by overcoming Brentford 3-1 on Wednesday evening. This helped them get their campaign back on track to some degree.
Eddie Howe will expect his boys to bring some consistency to their performance levels and return home with all three points from Ipswich, who occupy the 18th spot in the table after achieving promotion to the top flight back in May.
Newcastle United Team News
Joelinton will sit out this game after picking up his fifth yellow card in the big win over Leicester City. Emil Krafth and Jamaal Lascelles are both set to be back in the New Year, while Callum Wilson has to wait until February to recover from a hamstring problem.
Nick Pope is going to be out for around a month with a calf problem.
Predicted Newcastle lineup vs Ipswich Town (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
With Pope out for almost a month, Martin Dubravka should take up the spot in between the sticks.
Defence
In front of Dubravka, the back four is unlikely to undergo any changes at the weekend.
Fabian Schar should continue partnering Dan Burn in central defence in the Newcastle lineup, with Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento providing width and energy from the left-back and right-back positions, respectively.
Newcastle’s entire defensive unit have been vulnerable this season, so Eddie Howe will expect them to rise to the occasion at Portman Road and keep Liam Delap and Co. quiet.
Midfield
Sandro Tonali bagged a fine brace in Newcastle’s 3-1 win over Brentford in the Carabao Cup in midweek, and the Italian will be confident of getting more goals at the weekend. He is set to partner Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff in the Magpies’ engine room.
The trio must try to dictate the pace of the game with their passing ability, reading of the game and experience.
Attack
Alexander Isak should continue to lead the Newcastle attack amid the continued absence of Callum Wilson. With his pace, movement and flair and more importantly form, the Swede will be eyeing another entry into the scoring books on Saturday.
He will be flanked by Jacob Murphy and Anthony Gordon in the Newcastle lineup. The wingers will try providing service for Isak in the box to thrive.
Harvey Barnes, Joe Willock and Will Osula should be good attacking options to bring off the bench.
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