£13m man returns, local hero restored to the lineup - Our predicted starting XI to face Chelsea

 · December 18 2023, 11:59
£13m man returns, local hero restored to the lineup - Our predicted starting XI to face Chelsea
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Newcastle United have a tricky away fixture on Tuesday night as they look to progress to the semi-final stage of the Carabao Cup at the expense of Chelsea.

Eddie Howe is hoping to go one step further in the Carabao Cup this season and actually lift the trophy at Wembley after missing out last season thanks to a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United.

To do that though, Newcastle need to break this run of poor away form which has seen the Magpies win only once on the road in the Premier League this season. They did of course triumph away from home in the Carabao Cup when they saw off last year's winners Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford.

Eddie Howe will go full strength to ensure progression

The Magpies have not had an easy run in the competition this year having already faced Manchester City then United and now we come up against Chelsea. Although Newcastle will be buoyed by the fact that they recently hammered the Blues 4-1 at St James' Park in the league.

We kicked around a few ideas for the starting line up including Emil Krafth starting in order to prolong Kieran Trippier's rest. We toyed with the idea of Sven Botman starting with Dan Burn back on the left, but we landed on the strongest possible XI as we feel Howe will see this as a must-win.

Formation 12 18 2023 9 51 55 AM
Our starting lineup to face Chelsea

Goalkeeper

Martin Dubravka - M-Dubz kept a clean sheet on Saturday so his confidence should be up for this one.

Defence

Kieran Trippier - Eddie Howe's says he will make a late call whether to rest Tripps for this one, but we think he'll give him the nod with it being such a big game.

Jamaal Lascelles - Lascelles might have been the only person relieved to see Fabian Schar pull up with an injury now that Sven Botman will be wanting his spot back.

Dan Burn - Bagged himself a goal on Saturday, and looks fighting fit, so he will step in to replace the injured Schar.

Tino Livramento - Surely he's been too good to drop. Burn could stake a claim to the left-back slot again if Botman is fit enough to start, but we think it's too soon.

Midfield

Sean Longstaff - It's so good to have Longy back in the side, even if it does come at the expense of Lewis Miley - usually.

Bruno Guimaraes - Hopefully he can build on a fantastic second-half display on Saturday and boss the game again.

Lewis Miley - Joelinton is likely to miss this one so stick the goal-scoring hero from Saturday back in the line-up, surely he'll be raring to go.

Forwards

Miguel Almiron - Miggy got his goal at the weekend and that often lights the fuse that sees him go on a run of scoring in consecutive games.

Callum Wilson - Alexander Isak was rested as a precaution on Saturday so could be fit to start on Tuesday, but we'll stick with Wilson.

Anthony Gordon - The AG Train keeps on rollin' and for us, as long as he's fit he absolutely has to start.

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