Newcastle United are set to clash with Bournemouth for their Premier League fixture at Vitality Stadium on Saturday. The Magpies gave their survival hopes a huge lift as they stunned Manchester United 1-0 at St James’ Park last week.
Matt Ritchie scored the winner after 65 minutes – his first Premier League goal of the season – after Dwight Gayle’s clever lay-off found him in plenty of space to slot past David de Gea.
Anthony Martial had Man Utd’s best chances but he was denied by debutant goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in the first half and then saw two shots blocked on the line in quick succession in the 77th minute. Alexis Sanchez also saw an effort blocked after taking the ball past Dubravka.
Rafael Benitez’s side are currently staged on the 13th spot of the points table, 3 points behind their opponent on the weekend and just a mere 2 points ahead of the relegation scraps.
Going up against an in-form Cherries team is not ideal for Benitez’s plans but the hosts are not in their best spirits either.
Huddersfield Town dealt out a 4-1 thrashing to Eddie Howe’s men on 11th Feb and they are planning to take revenge in this fixture. They were remarkable in overthrowing both Chelsea and Arsenal at home over the past month and would like to do the same against a relegation rival.
Benitez will have a fresh set of players to tactically get out some points out of this fixture. Here is how the Newcastle United team might line up.
Formation: 4-4-1-1
Defence
Karl Darlow has taken over the number one spot in between the sticks while Rob Elliot has been riddled with injuries but it is Martin Dubravka who is expected to appear after last game’s heroics.
Jamaal Lascelles and Florian Lejeune are well matched in the centre-back positions. The duo has been shaky at times but was solid against Jose Mourinho’s side.
Paul Dummett might provide cover from the left.
DeAndre Yedlin is also the better choice ahead of Javier Manquillo to appear on the right.
Midfield
Mohamed Diame and Mikel Merino have looked solid in the holding midfield role but Jonjo Shelvey brings a certain cutting edge in terms of offensive quality.
The flanks might be occupied by Kennedy and Matt Ritchie with the latter on the right.
Attack
Ayoze Perez has been the best attacking threat for the Magpies in recent times and is always a handful for the opposition defence. With him in the shadow striker role or at the attacking midfield role United can hope to launch the quick counter attacks.
Dwight Gayle is expected to feature in the number nine role with Joselu making a substitute appearance.
