Newcastle United return to action in the Premier League today, hosting Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park and Eddie Howe will be looking for their first win in three.
The Magpies have suffered two defeats in their last two league games, so an opportunity to take all three points must be taken this afternoon to ensure they stay in strong contention to secure Champions League football.
Newcastle have fallen to eighth in the Premier League table but will have one game in hand over Aston Villa in seventh which puts them in a great position to climb back up if they can secure a victory today in front of the home support.
A win would see the Tynesiders jump back up into fifth, a point clear of their competitors – Bournemouth, Chelsea and Aston Villa – as well as matching Manchester City for points in fourth, ahead of their clash with Liverpool later today.
In terms of injuries, Jamal Lascelles and Joelinton are ruled out for the clash with the Tricky Trees, while centre-back Sven Botman is highly unlikely to feature as he continues to recover from a knee injury.
It remains unclear as to when Botman will be fully fit and available for selection, as Howe will not want to risk the Dutchman given the fact he has only recently returned from ACL surgery and recovery with eight months spent on the sidelines.
However, it is noted by Premier League injuries that he should be fit for the mid-week clash with Liverpool on Wednesday night at Anfield.
How could Newcastle line up vs Nottingham Forest?
Nothing but Newcastle predicts that Eddie Howe will make two changes to the team that started against Manchester City, maintaining his classic 4-3-3 formation.
In the defensive set up, we expect to see Martin Dubravka, Lewis Hall, Dan Burn and Fabian Schar retain their spots in the starting eleven, whilst Tino Livramento will be the first change in the team replacing Kieran Trippier.
In the centre of the pitch, we predict that Italian star Sandro Tonali will continue to dominate in his role alongside team captain Bruno Guimaraes, the pair have been a dream duo for Howe in midfield since finding the right formula to playing them both together.
The second and final change to the team completes the midfield trio with Newcastle native Lewis Miley being given an opportunity to make Joelinton’s role his own.
While Joe Willock could be the potential starter, today’s clash with Forest would be a great opportunity to provide Miley with the chance to prove himself alongside Guimaraes and Tonali.
In the attacking threat, we expect there will be no changes to the front three with Alexander Isak, Anthony Gordon and Jacob Murphy relied upon to cause chaos for Forest’s formidable defence.
