OPINION
Newcastle United manager Rafael Benitez would be wise to ring the changes somewhat for his team’s clash with Bournemouth on Saturday.
Two alterations will be enforced, with Fabian Schar suspended and Jamaal Lascelles expected to miss out through injury. Federico Fernandez and Paul Dummett should replace that duo at the Vitality Stadium.
Javier Manquillo has impressed in recent times, but was dropped in favour of DeAndre Yedlin for last week’s win over Everton. However, he deserves to come back into the team here. Jonjo Shelvey should also start in place of Ki Sung-yueng after impressing off the bench against the Toffees.
Those four changes will likely be it for the Magpies, and would probably be enough for Benitez’s team to cruise past the mid-table Cherries.
Martin Dubravka appears to be back on form after a couple of howlers in recent times and he can expect to start once again between the sticks on Saturday. As mentioned, Fernandez and Dummett must join Florian Lejeune at the heart of the defence.
Manquillo has been quietly impressive at wing back in recent weeks, while 25-year-old Yedlin has had an up-and-down season. The Spaniard should get the nod here. On the left hand side, though, Ritchie is the man of the moment and absolutely has to keep his place.
In central midfield, a partnership of Shelvey and Isaac Hayden sounds pretty appealing. The latter has been tremendous since the turn of the year, while the Englishman deserves to start after his Toffees impact.
Up front, Miguel Almiron and Ayoze Perez have excelled over the past few games and should keep their places in support of the excellent Salomon Rondon.
