Newcastle United will entertain Aston Villa at St. James Park on Wednesday afternoon hoping to pick up another three points at home. The Magpies will come into this game on the back of a dominant 3-0 win over Sheffield United last weekend. However, it won’t be an easy contest versus the Villans as they are currently fighting for their Premier League lives heading into the business end of this campaign.
Steve Bruce will probably opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and name an unchanged side for this encounter versus Dean Smith’s men.
4-2-3-1 Newcastle United Predicted Lineup To Face Aston Villa
Defence
Martin Dubravka will continue in goal for the Magpies after earning a comfortable clean sheet versus the Blades on Sunday. Jamaal Lascelles will once again feature alongside Federico Fernandez at the heart of Bruce’s defence. Both centre-backs will look to keep a high line and defend in numbers so that they can restrict the opposition from scoring in midweek.
Javier Manquillo could get the nod to start at right-back ahead of DeAndre Yedlin while Danny Rose operates on the other side as the left-back. Both full-backs will need to be more adventurous than they had been against Sheffield United if they are to provide enough ammunition for the front players to get the victory.
Midfield
Jonjo Shelvey and Isaac Hayden will anchor the Newcastle midfield as they focus on putting in another hard-working performance at the centre of the park. The talented trio of Allan Saint-Maximin, Miguel Almiron and Matt Ritchie will play just ahead of them as part of the Magpies attack. All three of them will be responsible for breaking down the Villa defence and create some decent goal-scoring opportunities for Joelinton up top.
Valentino Lazaro and Nabil Bentaleb will have to settle for a spot on Bruce’s bench but might get a chance to come on and make an impact in the second half if required.
Attack
Joelinton will lead the charge for the Tyneside giants down the middle fresh of a goal-scoring display versus the Blades in his last outing. The Brazilian forward will be desperate to build a scoring streak so that he can finally prove his worth in the Premier League.
Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle will both be available for selection on the bench.
