All change: We make a bold prediction as we guess Eddie Howe's NUFC starting XI to face Bromley on Sunday

 · January 11 2025, 12:00
All change: We make a bold prediction as we guess Eddie Howe's NUFC starting XI to face Bromley on Sunday
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Eddie Howe gave a lot of his players time off after the 2-0 win over Arsenal on Tuesday which suggests he won't be calling on them to play a big part in Sunday's FA Cup clash against Bromley.

Indeed, Eddie Howe has already said that Alexander Isak won't be involved after feeling his hamstring in Newcastle United's epic win over Arsenal, which, given Callum Wilson's ongoing injury issues, leaves just one real option for striker.

We expect that the entire starting XI will be different to the one that started on Tuesday night, but there will still be a couple of big names involved from the off.

We don't want to show disrespect to Bromley, but Sunday is the perfect opportunity to rest big players and give those on the fringes a run out, but we do still have to guard against complacency, so we don't think Howe will go wild with playing the kids.

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Bold or sensible? We'll soon see.

Goalkeeper

Odysseas Vlachodimos - Howe has hinted that Ody The Unwanted could get a run out on Sunday. We hope so as we're genuinely starting to feel sorry for the guy.

Defenders

Kieran Trippier (c) - Tripps has had to make do with a place on the bench due to Tino Livramento's form, but he might as well get some game time under his belt and captain the inexperienced side on Sunday.

Fabian Schar - Had to sit out the last two games through suspension so is nice and fresh.

Lloyd Kelly - We toyed with putting Kelly at LB and having Alex Murphy at LCB, but we've got a sneaking feeling ...

Matt Targett - The invisible man may get his first start since they stopped making footballs out of pig skin.

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Midfielders

Sean Longstaff - Hasn't had much game time lately due to the holy trinity working so well together.

Lewis Miley - We can't wait to see the lad back in action for more than a cameo-length appearance.

Joe Willock - Played on Tuesday against Arsenal but with Bruno Guimaraes back from suspension, Willock will be set to drop back down to the bench so why not give him another blast?

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Forwards

Miguel Almiron - A farewell performance, perhaps? Doubtful but he'll probably play.

Will Osula - Likely to get 90 minutes in the absence of Isak and Wilson, unless things are going drastically wrong and Howe needs to change things up.

Harvey Barnes - The deputy. The super sub. The perfect opportunity to get 90 minutes.

Looking at the side, it is still pretty strong. They'll be hamstrung by not having played together much, but there are some big individuals in there who can do some damage to the likes of Bromley.

That being said, we'd not be surprised if Eddie Howe delved deeper into his squad bag and brought out a couple of youngsters to take a look at.

We do expect one or two big names on the bench though. In case of emergency break out Bruno or Anthony Gordon.

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