Newcastle United welcome Chelsea to St. James’ Park on Sunday for an important final-day Premier League clash, and Rafa Benitez is expected to make one change to the side that lost to Tottenham.
The Magpies fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat to Spurs in midweek, which is their fourth loss in a row since a win over Arsenal that all but secured their top-flight safety for another season.
Benitez’s men had some good chances against Tottenham, with Jonjo Shelvey rattling the post with a free-kick and Dwight Gayle being guilty of a few miss opportunities.
The result saw them remain in tenth in the table, a position that they should secure with a win over the Blues on Sunday, with three teams below them on the same number of points.
Benitez is expected to name a mostly-unchanged lineup for the Chelsea clash, with Martin Dubravka starting in goal as usual, with a settled back four in front of him.
The much-improved pairing of Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame is expected to be chosen in midfield again, with both players putting in good performances against Tottenham.
Up front is where the one change is expected to take place, with fan favourite Kenedy dropping out due to being ineligible against his parent club, and speed demon Jacob Murphy deputising on the left-wing.
This is the starting XI Nothing but Newcastle expect Benitez to go with:
