Eddie Howe names strong starting XI as Newcastle United face Qarabag FK in Champions League play-off second leg

Newcastle United are gearing up for what should be their easiest game of the season under the lights at St James' Park. Kick-off against Qarabag FK in the Champions League play-off second leg is at 8pm live on Amazon Prime Video.

The Magpies carry a 6-1 lead into this tie after dominating out in Baku last week, which has led people to wonder if Eddie Howe would mix things up with his starting lineup today.

Many fans hoped that Eddie Howe would take this opportunity to rotate a few players out of the side to give them a rest and perhaps give a couple of the youngsters some valuable minutes.

As we predicted, though, only Alex Murphy and Will Osula have been given the nod from the off with Eddie Howe putting out a fairly strong team.

Eddie Howe has put out a strong side to take on Qarabag

Nick Pope has been given a rest with Aaron Ramsdale coming in to take over Champions League duty this time.

Kieran Trippier does start; he was one we thought would be rested, with either Leo Shahar or Jacob Murphy tasked with filling that position. The rest of the back four is as we expected with Sven Botman, Dan Burn and Alex Murphy completing the back line.

Howe has gone stronger in midfield than we were expecting. Both Sandro Tonali and Joelinton start along with Nick Woltemade.

Will we see a debut for Leo Shahar this evening?

Up top, Will Osula leads the line, flanked by Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes.

We're surprised that Anthony Gordon is sitting this one out. We thought he'd have been champing at the bit to get back out there and add to his Champions League goals tally, especially being just three behind Kylian Mbappe in the scorers charts.

Gordon is on the bench, along with Lewis Hall, Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga and Joe Willock.

Leo Shahar and Sean Neave are both on the bench, and as long as things are going well in the second half, we expect/hope to see them on the pitch at some point.