It was pretty much evident by the team that Rafa Benitez had deployed against Blackburn Rovers that he had one eye on the midweek League Cup fixture against Hull City. The team missed six first team players and were consequently handed their first defeat for the first time in their last 8 games.
It didn’t affect the points table much as Newcastle United were already five points clear at the top and still hold that position regardless of the defeat. However, Benitez better hopes his players emerge victorious against the Tigers to make the gamble worth it.
We expect Benitez to have a pretty solid team when they meet Hull as most of them were rested in the weekend. Newcastle has had a pretty easy run in EFL Cup so far with convincing scorelines against the likes of Cheltenham Town (2-0), Wolverhampton Wanderers (2-0), and Preston North End (6-0).
Related Reading: Men Behind The Scenes: How Backroom Changes Were Key To Newcastle United’s ‘Rafalution’
Defence
There is no way Benitez would be experimenting in this match and we expect him to stick with Karl Darlow to take his position as the goalkeeper.
None of the regular back four except Ciaran Clark took the field against the Rovers and we expect all of them to return. Benitez was forced to bring on Paul Dummett in the later stages of the second half to make things more assured at the back, but it was too late by then.
We expect him to start this match as the left back, beside Clark and their star defender Jamaat Lascelles at the centre. Anita is expected to take the right back position after DeAndre Yedlin played in the weekend.
