Newcastle United will host Wolverhampton Wanderers in the late Premier League kick-off this afternoon at St James’ Park and Eddie Howe will be hoping his team can pick up their first league victory since mid-January in front of the home support.
The Magpies have a great opportunity to leapfrog Liverpool into fifth if they can take all three points from their opponents today and will go four points behind Tottenham Hotspur in fourth with two games in hand on their rivals for the last Champions League qualification spot.
In terms of injuries, Emile Krafth remains unavailable for selection, however, Fabian Schar is set for a return to the matchday squad with the Newcastle boss giving a positive update on the player’s recovery following a concussion sustained during the League Cup final last month.
Howe told the press: “We hope he is in the squad [v Wolves]. He’s trained well this week. Pleased to see him back.”
Despite an almost fully fit squad to select from, the Magpies will be without star midfielder Joelinton with the Brazilian suspended for the clash with Wolves today due to his ten yellow card tally.
What could Newcastle’s line-up look like vs Wolves?
Football FanCast predicts that Howe will make four changes to the team that lost to Manchester City last weekend whilst sticking with his successful 4-3-3 formation.
Nick Pope (GK), Kieran Trippier (RB), Fabian Schar (CB), Sven Botman (CB), Dan Burn (LB), Bruno Guimaraes (CDM), Sean Longstaff (CM), Joe Willock (CM), Allan Saint-Maximin (LW), Miguel Almiron (RW), Alexander Isak (ST).
The first change we expect to see is Schar’s reprisal of his role in the back four alongside an otherwise unchanged defensive set-up replacing club captain Jamal Lascelles to resume his formidable centre-back partnership with Sven Botman.
The second change we expect to see is Joe Willock being given the golden opportunity to replace a suspended Joelinton in the midfield three alongside Bruno Guimaraes and Sean Longstaff.
The 23-year-old talent – who was dubbed “underappreciated” by NBC Sports pundit Robbie Earle – has only picked up 63 minutes of game time over the last four league outings, so it’s a fantastic chance for the young midfielder to prove his worth to the manager.
The third and fourth changes we predict will be found in the attacking third with Howe likely to shake up the forward line due to the lack of goal-scoring.
Allan Saint-Maximin could come in to replace Anthony Gordon to deliver creativity and chances for Callum Wilson’s positional competitor Alexander Isak to take advantage of against Wolves.
With that being said, a three-pointer is long overdue for Newcastle and there would be no better place than St James’ Park to seal the victory to get them back on course for a chance at European football next season.
