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Opinion

Predicted Newcastle team v Everton

5 years ago
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The Newcastle team v Everton will be an interesting selection for Rafa Benitez.

Last Saturday seeing Newcastle pick up only their second defeat in seven days.

With that West Ham match being the third in a space of a week, you had the usual people being clever after the fact, asking why the manager hadn’t rotated his squad.

No doubt, the very same people who would have questioned why Rafa had changed a winning team, if he had done so and Newcastle had lost anyway.

It was simply a case of rare defensive lapses/mistakes handing the game to West Ham in the first half, rather than second fatigue costing the team.

This Saturday guarantees at least one change, with Newcastle having confirmed on Thursday that Sean Longstaff is set to miss the rest of the season after picking up that knee ligament injury at the London Stadium.

Plenty talk this week about Jonjo Shelvey possibly coming in but that seems a little unlikely to me.

I think Shelvey will end up back in the team eventually but not this weekend.

Ki Sung-yeung appears ahead of him in the current queue for places but Mohamed Diame is surely the man who will get a game.

Newcastle fans ranked him Newcastle’s best in The Mag player ratings, despite Diame only playing the second half.

He looked sharp and also more offensively minded, as he tried to drive the team forward, often taking responsibility by carrying the ball himself.

The former Senegalese international set to come in alongside Isaac Hayden.

I can’t see Rafa Benitez changing his formation just because of one defeat and despite both Schar and Lejeune having an off day at West Ham, I can’t see Rafa making any changes with his three centre-backs, nor indeed Matt Ritchie at wing-back.

However, I think DeAndre Yedlin is sure to come in. Manquillo did ok against Burnley but was poor last Saturday, Yedlin has now had his rest and has to return.

I suppose it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise if Rafa Benitez took Miguel Almiron out of the firing line after three starts in a week but with a week to recover I hope and expect he will keep his place.

Salomon Rondon will of course start but I have a sneaking suspicion that at some time, Yoshinori Muto will get his chance in place of Ayoze Perez. Whether that is on Saturday remains to be seen but it would be interesting to see his pace and direct running added to that of Almiron on the left side of Rondon.

Muto returned to the bench for the first time in nine weeks at West Ham and I think he will get on the pitch at some time but maybe it will have to be as a sub this time.

My predicted Newcastle team v Everton:

Dubravka

Yedlin

Schar

Lascelles

Lejeune

Ritchie

Hayden

Diame

Perez

Rondon

Almiron

A win for Newcastle will be the first five match winning run at home in the Premier League for 16 years for NUFC, here’s hoping this team can deliver.

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