Predicted Newcastle XI to face Burnley | OneFootball

Newcastle United host Burnley at St James’ Park in the Premier League on Saturday in a mammoth clash at the bottom of the table.

Three points separate the teams heading into the game, with both sides in the relegation zone after 14 matches in the division. The Magpies were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Norwich last time out, having taken the lead through a penalty from Callum Wilson.

How many changes will Eddie Howe make to his team selection for the match today? Here is our predicted XI…

We are predicting that he will make four alterations for the game from midweek, with Miguel Almiron, Jacob Murphy, Jamaal Lascelles and Federico Fernandez all coming in.

One change will be enforced upon Howe following Ciaran Clark’s red card against the Canaries. Fernandez came on to fill the gap at centre-back and was outstanding to ensure that the Magpies did not lose, and he may have played his way into a start against Burnley.

As per SofaScore, he won both of his ground duels and made two clearances, two blocks, two interceptions and one tackle as he earned a rating of 7.0. This suggests that he was a solid performer at the back and could help Newcastle against the Clarets, as he has shown that he can put in a strong defensive display.

Fabian Schar went down with knocks on a couple of occasions and lost 50% of his ground duels as he recorded a SofaScore rating of 6.5. This could tempt the 43-year-old into bringing Lascelles back into the team after his suspension. The captain’s leadership at the back could seal his place in the starting XI next to Fernandez.

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At right-back, Howe could exclude Javier Manquillo from the team. We published an article explaining why the £40k-per-week dud should be axed from the XI, and the ex-Bournemouth boss could offer Murphy an opportunity to come in and show what he can do at St James’ Park.

We are predicting that the midfield and forward line will only have one change from the starting XI against Norwich. Clark’s red card in the 11th minute forced Ryan Fraser to be sacrificed early, which led to a disjointed attack which was not given a fair chance to shine, and we think that Miguel Almiron for the Scotsman may be the only change that Howe makes in those positions today.