Eddie Howe has a couple of big calls to make for his team selection as Newcastle United take on Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on Saturday afternoon.
The question on everyone's lips is will Howe have the stones to drop Kieran Trippier after his series of errors or will he back the vice-captain's character to bounce back and lead the team to victory?
We've gone with the former. It's clear to us that Trippier needs a break, for whatever reason, that's immaterial, he just needs a break.
Alexander Isak also get the nod in our lineup despite Eddie Howe saying he's 50/50, similarly, we've started Anthony Gordon even though Howe has said he's feeling very sore after that awful Moises Caicedo challenge on Tuesday night. Why have we done this? Purely because Fabian Schar put Isak and Gordon in his FPL side for this weekend.
Martin Dubravka - M-Dubz could and should have done better with Mykhailo Mudryk's goal on Tuesday, but it would be mental to blame him entirely.
Tino Livramento - In at right-back over Kieran Trippier while he gets his head on straight. Tino has been fantastic this season so we have no hesitation dropping him into the lineup.
Jamaal Lascelles - Fabian Schar is unlikely to be fit enough to play any part so Jamaal Lascelles gets a stay of execution for now.
Sven Botman - Our Rolls Royce is likely to start his first Premier League game since September. And there will be much rejoicing.
Dan Burn - BDB has looked absolutely fine since he returned from breaking his back. Clearly he heals like Wolverine (except for the finger, obviously).
Sean Longstaff - Still finding his way back after his injury but there's no doubt we're better with him in the side.
Bruno Guimaraes - Bruno isn't having the most consistent of seasons but you can never bet against him.
Lewis Miley - Joelinton won't be fit so the wonderkid keeps his place in the team and that's absolutely fine with us.
Miguel Almiron - Purely for a lack of better options, the Flamingo keeps his place.
Alexander Isak - Eddie Howe says maybe. Fabian Schar's FPL team says yes. We're going with Fabi!
Anthony Gordon - Same story as Isak. Also, we simply need him in the side.
Hopefully, that team will manage to stay fit enough to complete the full game, maybe Callum Wilson could come on for Isak at some point, but if we see that Number 11 go up on the board at any point ... there's pretty much nothing we can do about it.
But seriously, no more Matt Ritchie. We love him, but we love him like a coach.
If Gordon is flagging, use Lewis Hall. Please, Eddie. Please.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
10 | 13 | 25 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
10 | 10 | 23 |
3 |
Nottingham Forest
|
10 | 7 | 19 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
10 | 6 | 18 |
5 |
Aston Villa
|
9 | 5 | 18 |
6 |
Chelsea
|
9 | 8 | 17 |
7 |
Brighton
|
10 | 3 | 16 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
10 | 1 | 15 |
9 |
Newcastle United
|
10 | 0 | 15 |
10 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
9 | 8 | 13 |
11 |
Brentford
|
9 | 0 | 13 |
12 |
Fulham
|
9 | 0 | 12 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
9 | -3 | 11 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
10 | -6 | 11 |
15 |
Leicester
|
10 | -4 | 10 |
16 |
Everton
|
10 | -7 | 9 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
10 | -5 | 7 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
10 | -11 | 5 |
19 |
Southampton
|
10 | -12 | 4 |
20 |
Wolves
|
10 | -13 | 3 |