After a torrid season a couple of years back, Newcastle United owners put Rafael Benitez in charge. The Spanish tactician had worked with some high-profile teams in the past and people were sceptical if he could work with a weakened Newcastle United team in the Sky Bet Championship.
As it turned out, Benitez worked wonders with the club and not only won them automatic promotion but made them win the league. Newcastle’s joy of promotion, however, was followed by a summer of frustration as purse-stringent owner Mike Ashley refused to make any permanent signings.
Benitez demanded new players as he felt that the Championship squad would be too weak to work with but his complaints fell on deaf ears as Newcastle were left with the same crop of players. Not having been able to recruit any new talent, not many considered Newcastle to have a chance to survive in the top flight by the end of this season.
A poor start only confirmed the beliefs of the critics but Rafa Benitez has managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat. After 37 games, the Magpies are not only safe but stand 10th on the table. They did get some loan recruitments in January in the form of Islam Slimani and Kenedy but the overall squad has not changed much.
It is the credibility of the manager who has done brilliantly well to work with an average squad and guaranteed a top half finish for them. Their last match this season is against last season’s champions, Chelsea.
Chelsea have struggled this term but were set for a late charge to enter the top four. However, their midweek draw against Huddersfield Town saw their hopes dashed and it is now an unlikely event that the Blues will qualify.
This would mean that Antonio Conte’s men might not be fighting tooth and nail and Newcastle might have a better chance of stealing something from the match. Here is how Benitez will look to set his team up.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Defence
Martin Dubravka will be continuing in goal. Florian Lejeune and Jamaal Lascelles can be expected to play as centre-backs. DeAndre Yedlin should play as right back with Paul Dummett on the left.
Midfield
Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame should play as the holding midfielders with Ayoze Perez ahead of them in the number 10 role.
Attack
Kenedy can start from the left flank with Matt Ritchie on the right. Dwight Gayle can be expected to lead the line.
