Eddie Howe now hints at dropping NUFC team captain for Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea

 · October 29 2024, 12:00
Eddie Howe now hints at dropping NUFC team captain for Carabao Cup clash with Chelsea
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Newcastle United are gearing up for their second match in a three-game-week once again taking on Chelsea, this time at home in the Carabao cup after suffering defeat in the Premier League on Sunday.

You could usually use one game against an opponent to assess how to line up for the second game, but Chelsea have so many players that they could easily field an entirely different starting XI, so in reality, Newcastle learned nothing from their defeat on Sunday.

It'll not just be Enzo Maresca looking to make changes for the mid-week game with Eddie Howe conscious of not overworking his stars.

The Toon gaffer met the media on Tuesday morning and was keen to put the point across that nobody's place in the side is guaranteed.

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Bruno Guimaraes putting on his imaginary backpack

'Nobody is undroppable' - Eddie Howe sends a big message to his players

Howe was asked if Bruno Guimaraes could be dropped to the bench for the Chelsea game and that's when the gaffer said (via The Chronicle) that nobody is safe.

"Nobody is undroppable. Bruno has travelled a lot and has always been there for us. We need to make sure we manage him well. We need to really produce a strong team and I have a lot of thinking to do before kick off."

It's a tricky one for Howe as we're going up against Premier League opposition with an enviable squad, so he will have to go with a strong side if he wants to win, but at the same time, with Arsenal coming up on Saturday, he'll also want to keep his big players fresh.

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We owe Chelsea for Sunday and for last season

I'm personally torn on whether Howe should go big tomorrow and try and go for the win by risking his bigger players. After all, we owe them one for Sunday. In fact, we owe them two because it was Chelsea who knocked us out of the Carabao Cup last season too.

On the other hand, the Premier League is more important than the Carabao Cup and if all these Alexander Isak rumours are to be believed, we need a high league finish to convince him to stay. Although, if he does anything like what he did on Sunday again, we should take the first offer that comes in! (I jest, don't come at me).

I would certainly not like to be in Eddie Howe's shoes this week.

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