The Champions League return to St James’ Park on Tuesday night, and to say we have one foot in the last 16 would be an understatement.
Thanks to last Wednesday’s demolition job in Baku, we head into our play-off second leg against Qarabag with a 6-1 lead, handing us a rare opportunity to rest key players and rotate after a busy run of fixtures on the road.
This is our first game back at St James’ Park since that 3-2 defeat to Brentford over a fortnight ago, and it’s fair to say the mood has changed, with Eddie Howe switching things up and the players uniting to produce three wins in a row and a spirited display at Man City on Saturday night.
If and when we get past Qarabag, a last 16 clash with Barcelona or Chelsea awaits, although there is a lot of football to play between now and then, with tomorrow’s second leg set to be followed by three vital home games against Everton, Man Utd and Man City: two in the league and the latter in the FA Cup.
Sven Botman and Yoane Wissa could be back in the squad after both returned to training on Monday morning, but Bruno Guimaraes, Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar and Emil Krafth remain out.
Malick Thiaw is suspended following his third yellow card of the competition last week, while Lewis Miley is still managing some muscle discomfort brought on from a serious dead leg,
Dan Burn and Joelinton are ones to watch – a booking for either and they’ll miss the last 16 first leg – while Under-21 talents like Leo Shahar, Alex Murphy, Sean Neave and Park Seung-soo will all be hoping for minutes.
(4-3-3): Ramsdale – Shahar, Botman, Burn, A Murphy – Ramsey, Joelinton, Woltemade – J Murphy, Osula, Gordon.
OUT: Pope, Trippier, Thiaw, Hall, Tonali, Willock, Elanga.
IN: Ramsdale, Shahar, Botman, A Murphy, Joelinton, J Murphy, Osula.
Predicting the score when Newcastle’s starting 11 could be a real mishmash is never easy. Either way, if Qarabag are anything like they were in last week’s first leg, this should be a comfortable win, whether Howe rotates heavily or not!
Osula to score and Gordon to add another goal to his tally in a routine victory at St James’ Park.
Prediction: Newcastle 3-0 Qarabag
Howay the lads!
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