Newcastle United have the opportunity to upset the apple cart even further when they travel to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho finds himself in a familiar position as thing appear to be going up in flames in his third year at the club, and Rafael Benitez’s side will be hopeful of worsening the Portuguese’s misery.
The Magpies aren’t doing particularly well themselves of course, as their defeat to Leicester City last time out means they remain looking for their first Premier League win of the season.
Benitez must carefully ponder any changes to his team, then, and despite the negative result it’s unlikely that the Spaniard will make too many alterations for the United clash.
Martin Dubravka is extremely likely keep his place in goal. The Slovakian hasn’t been the problem for the team so far this campaign, and he will almost certainly remain in between the sticks.
There could, however, be two changes to the back four. Federico Fernandez and Paul Dummett are back in training after missing the Leicester game, and if both men are fully fit then Benitez will surely recall them. That means Ciaran Clark, on a reported £35,000-per-week [Source: Spotrac], could be axed for Fernandez, while Kenedy drops out for Dummett.
The midfield will likely remain the same, though. Matt Ritchie’s substitution on Saturday was met with boos and Benitez would be a fool to drop him for this game. Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame appear to be the first choice pairing in the middle, while Christian Atsu could get another chance on the left.
With Salomon Rondon unavailable it will probably Joselu up top again against the Red Devils, while Ayoze Perez appears most likely to play off him in attack.
