Newcastle team v Fulham – This now looks the starting eleven set to start | OneFootball

Looking at this Newcastle team v Fulham.

Eddie Howe and his team looking to come out of this international break and get a morale boosting win.

I victory would take Newcastle United above Fulham who are currently sixth.

So, what can we expect the Newcastle team v Fulham to be?

As a starting point…

This was the Newcastle team v Bournemouth for that 1-1 draw:

Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Targett, Bruno, Willock, Joelinton, Almiron, Fraser, Isak

Assessing the likely starting eleven in four days time is a tricky one, with obviously the head coach dependent on who is / isn’t fit.

Eddie Howe has already shown he intends to keep cards close to his chest and keep the opposition guessing as to team selection and this week / match will be no different. Internationals returning with potential / probably injury issues just adds to the guessing factor.

However, using the information / reporting out there, this is how I see the Newcastle team v Fulham looking.

Nick Pope has been excellent for Newcastle this season and is an automatic selection of course. Hopefully he has got his one error of the season out of the way with his blunder for England against Germany. Other than that though I thought he played well for England (though distribution poor behind a shaky defence last night) with his handling / saves against the Germans, plus did well against Italy and had no chance with their goal.

As for those in front of him, I think an unchanged defence. They did ok against Bournemouth apart from the slightly strange goal that the visitors did score, Billing with an unorthodox finish which was very good, but you did wonder whether he meant it.

Schar and Trippier have been away on international duty but Trippier watching both games from the bench. Schar also watched Switzerland’s win over Spain and remains to be seen if he gets his first start for his country since Eddie Howe managed his first NUFC game. Switzerland are home to the Czech Republic tonight and interesting to see if Schar gets on the pitch or not. Either way I think he starts against Fulham.

Meanwhile, Targett and Burn remained on Tyneside and will be looking forward to playing after the break. Sven Botman also stayed on Tyneside after telling the Dutch Under 21 set up that he wanted to concentrate on Newcastle United. It was a surprise when Botman was left out and Burn came back in and no massive surprise if then the Dutch defender came back in for Schar or Burn this time. On balance though I think with now three very good central defenders, Eddie Howe will stick with Schar and Burn, unless of course he decided to accommodate all three in a different formation against Fulham?

In midfield, Joelinton will continue and Willock also set to stay in the team. Both have been getting forward and into the box more and hopefully can start to be more of a goal threat in this run of games ahead of the World Cup.

Bruno Guimaraes returned early from the Brazil squad in France and he missed some training due to tightness in his thigh. However, some of the usually more reliable journalists are saying that they understand missing the two Brazil friendlies and heading back early, has been more a precaution and to ensure Bruno is best prepared to start on Saturday. Hopefully they will be proved right.

Up front, Alexander Isak also heading back early from international duty and carrying an injury. Said to be a lower leg injury and reported to be set to keep him out for a few weeks now.

Maybe not the worst thing in the world (assuming the injury proves only minor!) to take him out of the firing line after having to be thrown straight into the team and starting the last three matches, scoring twice. Get that bit more integrated into the club / squad then come back fully fit and settled in two or three weeks / matches time.

Hopefully with perfect timing, from all accounts Callum Wilson now ready to come back into the starting eleven. Out for six weeks since scoring two in the opening three matches, Wilson now back in training and fingers crossed nothing getting in the way of his return to the side, especially with Isak missing. Plus, doubts over Chris Wood, as he was forced off after 32 minutes for New Zealand on Sunday with a rib injury.

Miguel Almiron started in Paraguay’s win over UAE and now we wait to see if he plays against Morocco tonight. These are just friendlies and so I think every chance he will only play a limited number of minutes as a sub at most. With the game taking place in Seville (Spain) it means only minimal travel as well, not the usual long distance haul from South America. You would anticipate he will keep his place on Saturday.

Final place in the team looks set to be Ryan Fraser. He has turned in a couple of morale boosting very good appearances off the bench for Scotland getting two assists. Scotland play Ukraine (in neutral Krakow, Poland) on Tuesday night in a game where the Scots need to avoid defeat to ensure winning their Nations League group. You would imagine very likely Fraser will be used as an impact sub again, so getting some more minutes probably but not leading to any fatigue issues affecting Newcastle.

Allan Saint-Maximin has been described as ‘touch and go’ to make the matchday squad for Fulham as he looks to come back after five weeks out through injury. I think if he does prove fit enough to make the squad, ASM will himself be used as an impact sub against Fulham. With Murphy seemingly the only other competitor for a wing role, Ryan Fraser surely staying in the team.

Elliot Anderson impressed when a sub against Palace but has then missed both the Bournemouth game and joining up with the Scotland Under 21s due to injury. If he did prove ok for Fulham then he also set for an impact sub role, although not far in the future he will be competing strongly for a place in the starting eleven.

So, I think Eddie Howe