Eddie Howe makes exciting call up front as Newcastle United announce team news to take on Bournemouth

Newcastle United take on AFC Bournemouth in the FA Cup third round this afternoon. The game at St James' Park kicks off at 3 pm. There is no live UK TV coverage of this one.

Both teams were expected to be vastly changed from their midweek Premier League clashes, but Newcastle in particular have a packed schedule to be wary of that includes a Carabao Cup semi-final against Manchester City on Tuesday.

It's therefore hardly surprising that Eddie Howe has rung the changes for this game. However, he has kept a strong bench in case the game gets away from his side.

What is surprising is one of the huge calls Eddie Howe has made for this one.

Yoane Wissa and Nick Woltemade start together for the first time

Judging by the absence of Jacob Murphy from the squad, we can surmise that the hamstring injury he picked up in the win against Crystal Palace is still bothering him, so it looks like Yoane Wissa may be starting out on the flank. We suspect he'll start out on the right with Harvey Barnes on the left.

That means that for the first time, Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa will share the field, which is going to be very interesting to see.

The one change we were on the fence about in our lineup prediction was Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale, and we bottled it, but Eddie Howe has gone for it and restored Aaron Ramsdale to the starting XI.

Sandro Tonali keeps his place in the Xi

Sandro Tonali is the midfielder who survived from Wednesday when we thought it would be more likely to be Bruno Guimaraes.

We got the back four right, though, and the fact that Joe Willock and Jacob Ramsey were likely to come into the side.

It's still a strong side and one that should be capable of beating Bournemouth who have also rested a few key players, but it is Bournemouth and we know how much Eddie Howe has struggled against them since he left.

HOWAY EDDIE HOWE'S FA CUP RUN MAGS!