Newcastle United will play hosts to Fulham at St. James’ Park on Saturday looking to build on their win versus Huddersfield Town last weekend. However, the Magpies will face off against the Cottagers who are currently fighting for their lives at the bottom of the Premier League table so it would be far from easy for Rafael Benitez’s men to claim all three points from this contest.
The Tyneside giants are expected to opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation with Benitez set to recall Matt Ritchie back into his starting XI to add more creativity to his midfield.
4-2-3-1 Newcastle United Predicted Lineup To Face Fulham
Defence
Martin Dúbravka will play as Benitez’s first-choice goalkeeper once again after keeping a well-deserved clean sheet at Huddersfield Town last weekend. The central defensive pairing of Jamaal Lascelles and Fabian Schar should feature at the heart of the Magpies defence as they look to cope with the absence of Federico Fernández who will miss out due to injury. Paul Dummett will operate as the left-back while DeAndre Yedlin gets a start on the right side at the expense of Javier Manquillo.
The Magpies have improved a lot defensively over the last couple of months which was highlighted by their solid display at the John Smith’s Stadium last Saturday. Benitez will now hope for a similar show from his defenders against Fulham. However, it won’t be easy for them as they will be up against one of the most improved forwards in English football in Aleksander Mitrovic.
Midfield
Mohamed Diamé and Ki Sung-Yueng might be unleashed at the centre of the pitch as they both look to command the midfield and create chances for the forward players. The trio of Christian Atsu, Ayoze Perez and Matt Ritchie will line up ahead of them as they aim to cause havoc in and around the Cottagers penalty area.
Attack
Salomon Rondon is expected to lead the lines for the Tyneside outfit on Saturday following his heroics against the Terriers last weekend when he scored the winning goal for the Magpies.
The Venezuelan forward will once again be Benitez’s biggest weapon going forward, so he needs to justify his manager’s faith by finding some consistency up top.
