Newcastle United will travel to the John Smith’s Stadium to clash heads with Huddersfield Town on Saturday looking to bounce back from their recent loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend. The Magpies have managed to get themselves out of relegation trouble for the time being after a disastrous start to their Premier League campaign. However, Rafael Benitez’s men have just picked up just one point from their past three league fixtures, so they need to get a win soon or else get dragged back into the drop zone.
The Tyneside outfit could be more adventurous this weekend and line up in a 4-2-3-1 set-up with Benitez obligated to bring in Javier Manquillo in place of the suspended, DeAndre Yedlin.
4-2-3-1 Newcastle United Predicted Lineup To Face Huddersfield Town
Defence
Martin Dúbravka will line up in between the sticks as Benitez’s first-choice goalkeeper once again after shipping in two goals against Wolves last weekend. The central defensive pairing of Jamaal Lascelles and Federico Fernandez should continue at the heart of the Newcastle defence as they would look to put in a much better showing than what they produced last Sunday.
Paul Dummett will take his place at left-back while Javier Manquillo gets a rare start down the right flank in the absence of DeAndre Yedlin.
The Magpies have improved a lot defensively over the past few weeks, but a defeat to Wolves have derailed their progress. Hence, a strong defensive showing against the Terriers could help them get their season back on track as they look to steer away from relegation danger.
Midfield
Mohamed Diamé and Ki Sung-Yueng might be deployed at the centre of the park as they would be tasked with dictating play in midfield. Christian Atsu is expected to hug the left touchline and use his pace to make runs behind the Huddersfield backline. Matt Ritchie will feature on the right side of the midfield as he assumes his duties as a playmaker in Benitez’s starting XI.
Attack
Ayoze Perez is expected to play on the shoulders of Salomon Rondon, who will spearhead Benitez’s attack this weekend. The Venezuelan international has been amongst the goal-scorers in recent times following his goal against Everton earlier this month. The duo have struck up a solid partnership for the Magpies up top so the Toon Army would be expecting a big performance from them on Saturday afternoon.
