Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Newcastle United: Premier League US Summer Series match preview

Eddie Howe takes his Newcastle United side to New Jersey to round off their participation in the Premier League US Summer Series.

Following a thrilling 3-3 with Aston Villa in Philadelphia and a 1-1 with Chelsea in Atlanta, the Magpies are in Tony Soprano country to take on Brighton & Hove Albion and looking to extend their unbeaten pre-season record.

The game will be held at the 25,000-seater Red Bull Arena in Harrison, which is home to the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer, and kick-off is at 12.30 a.m. BST (Friday night/Saturday morning).

Sergeii Demianchuk of MLS will referee. Let's hope he's better than his colleague who took charge of the Aston Villa game. As of the latest forecast, the temperature at kick-off is expected to be a boiling 33 degrees, a full 11 degrees warmer than conditions inside the climate-controlled Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Here's everything you need to know before the fifth match of our 2023/24 pre-season schedule, with all of the latest team news, a projected XI, ticket information, manager comment, and more.

What's the latest team news?

None of the outfield XI that started against Chelsea on Wednesday evening/Thursday morning are expected to be involved here. Howe may elect to get more minutes into Nick Pope, though, with the giant goalkeeper impressive in the second half against Mauricio Pochettino's side. That was his first appearance in pre-season following hand surgery in May.

Karl Darlow is one goalkeeper who definitely won't be involved, with the Northampton-born stopper in Leeds to conclude a £400k transfer to Elland Road. Emil Krafth (knee) is still absent, while Sean Longstaff (unknown), Joe Willock (hamstring), and Javier Manquillo (unknown) are not in full training and unlikely to be part of the squad.

Here's who Howe has available:

Goalkeepers: Nick Pope, Martin Dúbravka, Loris Karius, Mark Gillespie

Defenders: Harrison Ashby, Jamaal Lascelles, Remy Savage, Paul Dummett, Alex Murphy, Matt Targett

Midfielders: Bruno Guimarães, Elliot Anderson, Jamie Miley, Joe White, Jay Turner-Cooke, Jacob Murphy, Matt Ritchie, Harvey Barnes, Ben Parkinson

Forwards: Callum Wilson

How will Newcastle line up?

Though the goalkeeping position is up in the air, Pope could get the nod if he's feeling good after his 45 minutes against Chelsea. We would expect Karius to get some pitch time too, as he hasn't had much so far in pre-season.

Elsewhere, there aren't many senior professionals available. As a result, it doesn't seem like Howe has much choice but to go for something close to the "second XI" that was seen in the open training session in Atlanta on Tuesday:

(4-3-3) Pope; Ashby, Lascelles, Dummett, Targett; Ritchie, Guimarães, Anderson; J. Murphy, Wilson, Barnes

What kit will Newcastle be wearing?

As Newcastle are the away side for this game and Brighton are set to wear their usual blue and white striped shirts, blue shorts, and blue socks, the Magpies are likely to go with the "Saudi-inspired" green away kit. That will mean green shirts, white shorts, and green socks.

What have the managers said about the match?

Unlike the games against Aston Villa and Chelsea, there hasn't been an official press conference for this one, likely due to how short the gap between fixtures has been.

Howe did speak to Dan King of NUFC TV after the 1-1 draw with Chelsea, though, and made some comments about his team selection:

"Yeah we'll change everybody, we hope to. With two games in three days we thought that was the right thing to do. They didn't warm up, they trained this morning, they'll train again tomorrow and then play on Friday night."

Are tickets still available?

Due to the Red Bull Arena only holding 25,000 the game sold out quite quickly. There are resale tickets available via Ticketmaster, though, with prices starting at $70 and going all the way up to $499.

Where can the game be watched?

The game will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK/Ireland and on Peacock Premium in the USA. It will also be televised on numerous overseas channels in countries such as Australia (Optus), Canada (Fubo), Germany (Sky Sport), New Zealand (Sky Sports), and Spain (DAZN).

NUFC TV will show the game for free to those not in the UK, Ireland, or the USA.

(In the UK, Ireland, or USA, and don't have Sky Sports or Peacock Premium? Here's how to watch the Premier League Summer Series for FREE.)

What's Newcastle's head-to-head record with Brighton?

Newcastle and Brighton have only played each other 32 times over the years and have never faced off in a friendly before now. Here's the full head-to-head record between the sides:

How about a score prediction?

With Howe set to field a second XI and very little known about how Brighton will line up, we'll hedge our bets on another draw here and go for a Desmond (2-2).