Fans have chosen their collective Newcastle team v Leicester – Interesting choice
Yesterday we asked you the question…Which 11 players would you pick in Newcastle team v Leicester?
We put together a list of the 24 players who could potentially be selected on Saturday teatime.
Paul Dummett and Christian Atsu are both set to be available according to Rafa Benitez, now fully fit after recovering from injury.
Whilst yesterday afternoon, Jamaal Lascelles confirmed he’d trained for a third day in a row and is optimistic he will also be available.
Some very interesting movement in team selection from what Newcastle fans chose for Chelsea last Saturday.
In fact there would be six changes if Rafa Benitez agreed with the eleven that supporters have selected.
However, it is a more confused picture compared to what fans were thinking a week ago, as with the expected extra players available, it will hopefully give the manager some more positive choices to make, rather than certain positions having very little competition.
Very interesting to see the two players way clear at the top, the only pair to get over 88% backing from supporters.
Fans wanting to see both Jonjo Shelvey (96%) and Mikel Merino (94%) in the starting 11 together.
Next up you have (hopefully) returning skipper Jamaal Lascelles (88%), guessing the vote would have been higher if fans knew for certain he would be fit enough to start.
After creating both goals against West Brom, Matt Ritchie (88%) had an uncomfortable day at Chelsea playing as a left wing-back, an experiment unlikely to be repeated.
Indicating the increase in choice of players, we then drop down to 75% support for the fifth choice player. DeAndre Yedlin hasn’t been at his best but is clearly seen as still by far the best option by supporters, well ahead of main competition Javier Manquillo, who drops from 20% to 15% after his showing at Stamford Bridge.
With three centre-backs (four if you count Chancel Mbemba) to choose from, the percentage has naturally dropped, but Ciaran Clark (74%) still gets significant backing after being the pick of Newcastle’s defence in the 3-1 defeat to Chelsea. Florian Lejeune squeezed out and dropping from 92% to 42% support.
At the other end of the pitch, another smartly taken goal by Dwight Gayle (71%) at Chelsea to go with his one at Old Trafford (and disallowed one v Bournemouth) sees him easily the top choice forward, increasing from 47% who picked him v Chelsea.
Karl Darlow (67%) did nothing wrong last Saturday and could do nothing about the three goals, so stay a dominant choice over Rob Elliot (31%).
Despite both Merino and Shelvey being the top choice picks, fans still want Isaac Hayden (58%) in the team as he has greater mobility that no doubt will be needed against a pacey Leicester side. Having three central midfielders means a winger squeezed out and Jacob Murphy (35%) and Rolando Aarons (34%) are given very similar support, whilst Christian Atsu is the main victim, despite getting 51% support he just misses the cut.
As Dwight Gayle’s support has grown, so Aleksandar Mitrovic finds his dropping (from 83%). However, fans still go for the two up front with Mitro on 53%, though of course Rafa is still yet to give him a PL start this season.
Left-back proved the hottest contest, with Paul Dummett (51%) just edging out Chancel Mbemba (49%).
Here is the percentage support for each player from the thousands of votes cast and in brackets the fan support/vote for the team selection v Chelsea last Saturday, then an image of how this fan selected team would potentially look, though with the players that fans have selected – it is difficult to guess what kind of formation it would be…if selected by Rafa:
96% (94%) Jonjo Shelvey
94% (95%) Mikel Merino
88% Jamaal Lascelles
88% (94%) Matt Ritchie
75% (78%) DeAndre Yedlin
74% (96%) Ciaran Clark
71% (47%) Dwight Gayle
67% (63%) Karl Darlow
58% (58%) Isaac Hayden
53% (83%) Aleksandar Mitrovic
51% Paul Dummett
51% Christian Atsu
49% (88%) Chancel Mbemba
42% (92%) Florian Lejeune
35% (36%) Jacob Murphy
34% (63%) Rolando Aarons
31% (36% ) Rob Elliot
15% (24%) Ayoze Perez
15% (20%) Javier Manquillo
9% (15%) Jesus Gamez
5% (7%) Joselu
3% (4%) Massadio Haidara
1% (4%) Mohamed Diame
1% (1%) Henri Saivet
Newcastle v Leicester Match Betting:
Newcastle win 13/8 – Draw 23/10 – Leicester win 19/10
Gayle to score first goal 11/2 – NUFC win 1-0 8/1 – 3 or more match goals in first half 13/2
All Newcastle v Leicester betting HERE
New customers to BetVictor qualify for up to a £40 welcome bonus in free bets.
If you would like to feature on The Mag, submit your article to contribute@themag.co.uk