Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle has some big selection calls to make for the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday night.
Newcastle United head into another home match at St James’ Park needing to bounce back from a heavy away defeat.
The Magpies lost 4-1 at Leeds United before responding with a 2-1 win over Hull City. Now Matthias Jaissle’s side hope to do the same again after losing by the same scoreline at newly-promoted Coventry City on Monday night.
Aston Villa are the visitors to Tyneside on Saturday evening and ahead of the clash, there are some key changes Jaissle must make to his starting line-up:
Matthias Jaissle, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on after the Premier League 2026/27 match between Coventry City and Newcastle United at The Coventry Building Society Arena on October 12, 2026 in Coventry, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)placeholder image
Matthias Jaissle, Manager of Newcastle United, looks on after the Premier League 2026/27 match between Coventry City and Newcastle United at The Coventry Building Society Arena on October 12, 2026 in Coventry, England. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) | Getty Images
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Newcastle United need their captain
Back-to-back away games, eight goals conceded, and that’s without playing any of the ‘big boys’ yet. Newcastle should not be shipping four at Leeds United and four at newly-promoted Coventry City.
Even with Malick Thiaw taking the armband, the Magpies’ backline lacks experience and leadership. That’s where their captain, Dan Burn, comes in, and he must come into the starting line-up against Aston Villa this weekend.
And that should come at the expense of Sven Botman, who is either brilliant or pretty awful at the moment. No in-between. His strike against Coventry, as stunning as it was, should not paper over the cracks of what was another shaky defensive display.
For that final 10 minutes at Coventry, Newcastle were spineless. Burn, as the leader, should, in theory, strengthen the spine of the team.
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Play Nico Gonzalez and Sean Steur
Matthias Jaissle waxed lyrical about Sean Steur after the 2-1 win over Hull City before the international break, yet the Dutchman didn’t play a single minute at the CBS Arena.
The reason? “Because in that position Nico Gonzalez was starting,” Jaissle said. “Therefore, we decided to play Nico.”
Was recalling Gonzalez the right call? Yes. But at the expense of Steur? That felt incredibly harsh.
Gonzalez and Steur are yet to start in midfield together, as it’s clear both occupy very similar positions. But the pair are arguably the Magpies’ best midfielders; therefore, Jaissle must find a way to play both, starting on Saturday.
Newcastle United have a right wing problem
Criticism of Jacob Murphy can be over the top, in my opinion, but after poor performances against Millwall, Leeds and now Coventry, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to see how Jaissle can justify sticking with him.
It’s time the German rolled the dice against Villa and tried a makeshift option on the right wing. Anthony Elanga is likely to miss the game, leaving Newcastle without a recognised alternative to Murphy.
Bazoumana Toure is the obvious choice if fit, having replaced Murphy against Coventry, though the Ivorian unfortunately had to come off himself after going down injured in the 90th minute.
If Toure is unavailable, then what about Harvey Barnes, Matias Fernandez-Pardo or even Amar Dedic? Newcastle need fresh energy on the right, and Murphy just isn’t the answer currently.
The Matias Fernandez-Pardo debate
Fernandez-Pardo deserves to keep his place in Newcastle’s starting line-up, but where he should play remains an open debate.
Watching the Belgian, he looks more suited to playing out wide than through the middle, but he shouldn’t be written off as a central striker just yet.
No one can say he wasn’t heavily involved against Coventry, which couldn’t be said in the previous two games against Leeds and Hull, but his end product let him down badly. He’s made improvements. Hopefully the next step is his first goal.