Has the magic potion ended for Newcastle United? After a fairytale run that saw the Magpies going on an 8-match winning streak and leading the table by 5 points, Rafa’s men have suffered two back to back league defeats, with the last one against Nottingham Forest hurting the most.
Newcastle saw two of their players red carded and still held onto the very last minute fighting 11 men with 9 before their fatigue finally gave in and Forest found the winner. Although they still lead the table by two points, things look difficult from here on as they will be without vital players when they visit fifth-placed Birmingham City next.
Benitez will hope his men can bounce back to winning ways after the club saw three defeats in a span of one week. Newcastle haven’t had the best of home records this season so far, collecting only 18 points from 9 games as opposed to their away record (22 points from 10 games). Hence, it more than looks like an uphill task at hand this week.
Defence
Karl Darlow’s performance was superhuman the last match and if not for Lascelles’ own goal, he could have won all the plaudits for a point. There is no way he gets left out.
With Paul Dummett among one of the two players who was red-carded against Forest, Benitez will have a tough time replacing him. Massadio Haidara remains sidelined with a knee injury and the boss is likely to give the new recruit Achraf Lazaar a nod, who joined from Palermo. Jamaal Lascelles will start in the centre-back and hopefully will leave behind the memories of his disastrous own goal.
Ciaran Clark will start alongside him and Benitez is lucky not to lose out his most reliable duo at such a time of crisis. We expect Anita to start on the right defensive flank replacing Yedlin.
Midfield
Jonjo Shelvey will definitely be a huge miss in the Newcastle midfield, but with him already on four yellow cards prior to the Red, Benitez surely must have had a backup plan to ploy in his absence. We expect Mo Diame to replace him in the middle of the park and start alongside Isaac Hayden. In the defensive midfield, Benitez also has a decent option in Cheik Tioté up his sleeve.
The flanks should be taken by Yoan Gouffran and Matt Ritchie. It was Ritchie’s goal that gave Newcastle the lead against Forest before things turned haywire. Gouffran was subbed off after he was booked in the last quarter of the game.
Attack
After Dwight Gayle started the game against Forest, we expect Aleksandar Mitrovic to start in the striker’s role. Since Diame is expected to move back to the midfield to fill for Shelvey, Benitez might decide to play Perez behind the Serbian.
