Fans choice of Newcastle team v Cardiff today
We asked fans the question, which 11 players would you pick in your Newcastle team v Cardiff?
We put together a list of the 22 players who could potentially be selected for this 12.30pm Saturday afternoon kick-off.
Newcastle having won their last 10 (TEN) league games against Cardiff.
This time Rafa Benitez is without Florian Lejeune and DeAndre Yedlin, the manager saying he won’t be risking the full back after he was forced off towards the end of the Tottenham match.
An interesting selection for Rafa today as we wait to see what he does in place of Yedlin, as well as how many, if any, of the new summer faces he will give a start to.
Some clear messages from the fans…
Firstly, the top five choices are no-brainers just as they were perceived last season.
At the very top you have Shelvey (100%), then Lascelles, Kenedy, Dubravka and Ritchie all with 97% or better support.
In sixth place is Paul Dummett, a steady and reliable player but limited, the fact he gets 96% backing sums up how few options there are for the manager in many positions.
Probably the most interesting choice today is whether Rafa goes with Rondon or Joselu from the start.
Well, the fans have no doubts.
A massive 94% want Salomon Rondon to be in the starting eleven and only 9% had Joselu as one of their 11 choices.
Mohamed Diame (75%) was below par last week but his main rivals Ki (31%) and Hayden (5%) still aren’t seen as major competition by supporters.
New boy Muto (55%) is the ninth highest choice, whilst Ciaran Clark (53%) makes it in ahead of Fernandez (44%) and Schar (31%).
Once again showing the weak nature of Rafa’s squad options, the most likely replacement for Yedlin is Manquillo and he gets only 40% of the vote.
The team having a very uneven look with Ayoze Perez being the 11th choice even though it is a minority (45%) of fans who want him to start.
If this fan choice 11 did ever make it onto the pitch, I suppose you would have a formation of three at the back, with then Ritchie and Kenedy as wing-backs, Diame and Shelvey in midfield, with Perez, Muto and Rondon in front of them…
Here is the percentage (rounded up or down to nearest whole number) support for each player from the thousands of votes cast:
100% Jonjo Shelvey
99% Jamaal Lascelles
99% Kenedy
98% Martin Dubravka
97% Matt Ritchie
96% Paul Dummett
94% Salomon Rondon
75% Mohamed Diame
55% Yoshinori Muto
53% Ciaran Clark
45% Ayoze Perez
44% Federico Fernandez
40% Javier Manquillo
31% Fabian Schar
31% Ki Sung-yueng
17% Jamie Sterry
9% Joselu
7% Christian Atsu
5% Jacob Murphy
5% Isaac Hayden
1% Karl Darlow
1% Rob Elliot
Cardiff v Newcastle Match Betting:
Cardiff win 11/5 – Draw 21/10 – Newcastle win 31/20
Both teams to score in 1st half 4/1 – Rondon to score last goal 13/2 – NUFC win 2-0 21/2
All Cardiff v Newcastle betting HERE
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