Newcastle United will return to Premier League action this weekend in their early kick-off against AFC Bournemouth at St James’ Park.
The Magpies have been unstoppable in recent weeks and continued their pursuit of European football qualification with another top-flight victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers midweek.
Eddie Howe will be delighted with his team’s current performance and hopeful that another clash in front of the home support will inspire another three-pointer as they look to widen the gap between themselves and Chelsea in fifth.
Bournemouth has always been a difficult fixture for the Newcastle manager to navigate, with his strong connection to the club, but after taking a draw away from home to the Cherries earlier this season, there will be no room for sentiment on Tyneside this weekend.
A win for the black and white army would retain their top-four status before Chelsea kick a ball this weekend, which will be a huge motivation for the players who are already in imperious form.
Regarding injuries, Jamaal Lascelles, Callum Wilson, Harvey Barnes and Nick Pope are all unavailable for selection, whilst Fabian Schar will be subjected to a late fitness test after missing out on the game against Wolves due to illness.
Howe spoke in his pre-match press conference yesterday to give an update on Schar’s availability:
“He trained yesterday, but he wasn’t 100 per cent himself. Nasty cough, nasty illness, so we’ll see how he’s recovered.”
How could Newcastle line up vs Bournemouth?
Nothing but Newcastle predicts that Eddie Howe will make no changes the team that started against Wolves midweek, maintaining his 4-3-3 formation as usual.
In goal, Martin Dubravka continues in his role after a fantastic run of form in the goalkeeping role during Nick Pope’s absence, ahead of him Lewis Hall on the left and Tino Livramento on the right to retain their fullback roles.
Despite Fabian Schar’s late fitness test, Howe could just play it safe keeping his centre-back partnership of Sven Botman and Dan Burn, however, one of the centre-back roles are likely to be the only change to the team this weekend, dependant on Botman’s fitness levels and Schar’s recovery.
In the centre of the pitch, we expect to see the Brazilian-Italian trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali continue to display their incredible chemistry in midfield.
Speaking of incredible, Alexander Isak scored twice against Wolves to become only the fourth player in Premier League history to have scored in eight consecutive games, as well as breaking the club’s record for consecutive goals scored.
We expect to see the Swedish striker retain his centre-forward role alongside Anthony Gordon on the left and Jacob Murphy to complete the attacking threat that could cause absolute chaos for Bournemouth’s defence.