Newcastle United will lock horns with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday afternoon as they look to pull off a major upset on the road. The Magpies will head into this encounter after grinding out a 2-2 draw versus West Ham United last weekend. The Tyneside outfit doesn’t have anything to play for going into the final phase of this campaign, so they will have some freedom to express themselves without worrying too much about the outcome of the contest.
Steve Bruce will opt for a 4-2-3-1 formation and might make a couple of tweaks to his first-team for this league clash at the north-west of England.
4-2-3-1 Newcastle United Predicted Lineup To Face Manchester City
Defence
Martin Dubravka will operate in goal for the Magpies despite conceding two goals against the Hammers yesterday. Jamaal Lascelles will once again get the nod to impress alongside Federico Fernandez at the heart of Bruce’s defence. Both centre-halves will try to keep a good defensive shape so that they can neutralise the threat of Man City’s Gabriel Jesus in midweek.
Javier Manquillo should continue to feature as a makeshift left-back after he put in another solid display last weekend. Emil Krafth will retain his spot on the other side as the right-back. Bruce will instruct both his full-backs to stay back and track the runs of the Man City wide players so that they can restrict them from creating too many chances on Wednesday.
Midfield
Jonjo Shelvey and Nabil Bentaleb will resume their duties as the holding midfielders as they focus on producing another industrious performance at the centre of the park. The hard-working trio of Allan Saint-Maximin, Miguel Almiron and Matt Ritchie will operate just ahead of them as part of the Magpies attack. All three of them will have to find a way to cause a few problems for the Man City defenders in midweek.
Valentino Lazaro will have to settle for a spot on the bench but might come on to influence the game in the second half if required. Isaac Hayden picked up an injury in his last league start, so he is unlikely to play a part in this upcoming clash at the Etihad. Sean Longstaff might also miss out due to injury, but his brother, Matty Longstaff should be fit to take his place on the bench.
Attack
Joelinton has been quite effective while operating as a makeshift wide player in recent matches, but he might be rested for this midweek game, meaning that Dwight Gayle will carry most of the goal-scoring workload on his shoulders. The ex-Crystal Palace striker will have to work hard in exposing the opposition’s weaknesses on the counter, but he can expect to be in for a difficult afternoon when he laces up to face Man City later this week. Andy Carroll will once again make up the numbers on the Magpies bench.
