Newcastle United will clash heads with Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium on Saturday afternoon hoping to pick up a rare win on the road. The Magpies have been hit with an injury-crisis so it will be difficult for them to pick up maximum points against a Wolves team that have been flying high in the Premier League.
Steve Bruce is expected to set up his side in a 5-3-2 formation but will have a selection headache as a lot of his first-team players are currently missing in action due to injury.
5-3-2 Newcastle United Predicted Lineup To Face Wolves
Defence
Martin Dubravka will operate in between the sticks for the Magpies despite failing to keep a clean sheet against Rochdale last weekend. Bruce might opt to play a back three of Florian Lejeune, Federico Fernandez and Ciaran Clark as they look to keep a good shape and restrict Wolves from scoring on Saturday. However, the Magpies will be sweating on the fitness of Clark, who is a major doubt for this game.
De Andre Yedlin might get the nod to feature as the right-back while Paul Dummett fills in on the other side in the left-back position. Both full-backs will be expected to work hard so that they can keep the likes of Pedro Neto and Adama Traore quiet this weekend.
Jamaal Lascelles, Javier Manquillo and Fabian Schar are unlikely to be ready in time to play a part in this clash at the Molineux.
Midfield
The Magpies will line up with a midfield three of Miguel Almiron, Sean Longstaff and Isaac Hayden as they look to link up with each other and create some decent goal-scoring opportunities for the front two.
This match might come too soon for Jonjo Shelvey, but Matthew Longstaff and Ki Sung-yueng should be fit enough for a place on the bench.
Attack
Bruce will be inclined to play Joelinton alongside Andy Carroll up top. The Newcastle strikers will hope to feed off the long balls and make the most out of the chances they create in the final third. Both forwards can benefit from scoring against Nuno Espirito Santo’s defenders this weekend as they have found goals hard to come by so far this season.