Newcastle United will head down to the Midlands for their Premier League clash with Leicester City tonight to continue their fight for Champions League qualification.
The Magpies return to action in the Premier League tonight at the King Power Stadium, and Eddie Howe will be hoping his team can capitalise on Leicester’s incredibly poor form at the moment.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s relegation-battling side have become one of only four Premier League sides to lose seven consecutive league games and are 15 points adrift from safety with only eight games left.
As a result, there is no better time to take a confident Newcastle side to Leicester with their ambitions of Champions League football next season very much still in their hands to grasp.
Newcastle are currently seventh in the Premier League, but following draws for Chelsea and Manchester City this weekend, there is an opportunity to climb back into fifth this evening if they can take all three points.
In terms of injuries, Lewis Hall, Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman remain ruled out and unavailable for selection tonight, however, there will be several late fitness tests for first team stars.
Alexander Isak and Joelinton were both hooked after suffering minor injuries during the second half against Brentford last week, Howe gave an assessment of their situation in his pre-match press conference on Friday, and the pair will be subjected to a late fitness test.
Right-back Kieran Trippier suffered with cramp against the Bees, needing to be replaced in the 89th minute, but is expected to be available for selection tonight after a positive update from the Newcastle boss.
Despite finally finishing up his three-match ban, Anthony Gordon will also undergo a late fitness test after suffering a minor hip injury during his international duty with England two weeks ago.
How could Newcastle line up against Leicester?
Nothing but Newcastle predicts that Eddie Howe will make two changes to the team that started against Brentford last week, maintaining his classic 4-3-3 formation.
We expect that the defensive set up will remain the exact same despite Trippier’s cramp issue, the right-back will be joined by Fabian Schar, Dan Burn and Tino Livramento, while Nick Pope retains his role in goal.
In the centre of the pitch, we predict that the Newcastle manager will make his first change with Joe Willock joining Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali, replacing a touch-and-go Joelinton to complete the midfield trio.
In the attacking threat, we think it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Howe to drop Alexander Isak in the centre forward role to allow him a bit more rest on his reoccurring groin issue against Leicester.
We predict that Callum Wilson will replace the Swedish striker, while Harvey Barnes and Jacob Murphy retain their roles on the wings as the game may come to soon for Gordon.
Indeed, it won’t be ideal for Howe not to his most trusted players on the pitch from the start, but given Leicester’s plight it might be an ample opportunity for the manager to mix it up and give a rest to those that clearly need it to avoid any further damage or fatigue where possible for more difficult fixtures ahead.
