Newcastle United travel to Craven Cottage on Saturday for a good old 3pm non-televised (in the UK at least) kick-off.
The Magpies will be looking to shake off their disappointment at dropping two points late on against Everton on Tuesday night, while Fulham have to put behind them a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
Eddie Howe must piece together a starting XI with what's left of his squad after another round of injuries swept through the team, but he will be grateful to have Anthony Gordon back from suspension following his sending-off against West Ham at the weekend.
We've once again gone a bit more down the fantasy football route than what we think Howe will actually go with, but we said that last week and we weren't actually far away with our prediction.
Martin Dubravka - It is what it is and we'll say no more.
Emil Krafth - Both Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento are a few weeks away from fitness so it's time for Krafu to shine
Fabian Schar - Mr Dependable continues on like the soldier he is.
Dan Burn - Captain for the night on Tuesday, Burn looked good back in his preferred role at centre-back.
Lewis Hall - Was withdrawn with fatigue on Tuesday night but had a good game and is expected back in action on Saturday.
Sean Longstaff - We held off on the urge to put Joe Willock back in over Longy because we just don't think Howe would do that as much as we'd like him to.
Bruno Guimaraes - He couldn't possibly make it to the Tottenham game (after which the counter resets) without being booked, could he?
Elliot Anderson - What a grafter Anderson is. We're so much better for having him in the team at the minute, even at the expense of Willock.
Anthony Gordon - This is where we've gone a bit fantasy football, having AG10 on the right of the attack and Harvey Barnes on the left, but let's be honest, Jacob Murphy is going to start.
Alexander Isak - Another game, another goal? We don't see why not!
Harvey Barnes - We'd just love to see Barnes and Gordon on together, but really, we expect Gordon on the left and Murphy on the right. But we're manifesting.
In a way, it would make more sense for Eddie Howe to keep Harvey Barnes on the bench to unleash later on in the game, especially as we expect our bench to be pretty uninspiring again.
At least we will have two players in Willock and Barnes (or whoever is dropped to make way for them) to come off the bench and make an impact.
Beyond that, expect to see two goalkeepers and a bunch of kids occupying the bench again.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
14 | 18 | 35 |
2 |
Chelsea
|
15 | 17 | 31 |
3 |
Arsenal
|
15 | 14 | 29 |
4 |
Manchester City
|
15 | 6 | 27 |
5 |
Nottingham Forest
|
15 | 1 | 25 |
6 |
Aston Villa
|
15 | 0 | 25 |
7 |
Brighton
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
8 |
Bournemouth
|
15 | 3 | 24 |
9 |
Brentford
|
15 | 3 | 23 |
10 |
Fulham
|
15 | 2 | 23 |
11 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
15 | 12 | 20 |
12 |
Newcastle United
|
15 | -2 | 20 |
13 |
Manchester United
|
15 | 1 | 19 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
15 | -9 | 16 |
15 |
Everton
|
14 | -7 | 14 |
16 |
Leicester
|
15 | -9 | 14 |
17 |
Crystal Palace
|
15 | -6 | 13 |
18 |
Wolves
|
15 | -14 | 10 |
19 |
Ipswich
|
15 | -13 | 9 |
20 |
Southampton
|
15 | -20 | 5 |