Nick Woltemade starts up top - Our predicted XI for Newcastle United to take on Qarabag FK

Newcastle United take on Qarabag in the Champions League play-off first leg on Wednesday. Kick-off is at 5:45pm live on TNT Sports.

Eddie Howe made some big changes to his last two starting lineups, leaving us scratching our heads for this one.

Nick Woltemade played a much deeper role on Saturday at Aston Villa, while at Tottenham, he played no recognised strikers at all. So we have absolutely no idea how accurate this prediction is going to be.

We know that Kieran Trippier and Sandro Tonali are going to start, as Eddie Howe already alluded to that, but as for the rest, it's anyone's guess. This is ours.

Goalkeeper

Nick Pope - It's a likely return to the side for Popey after Aaron Ramsdale was on domestic cup duty on Saturday.

Defenders

Kieran Trippier (c) - Eddie Howe has already said that he has no other options at right-back so Trippier will start.

Malick Thiaw - Similarly, there's no ready-made alternative for Malick Thiaw so we expect him to continue his run of starts.

Sven Botman - Missed out at the weekend with a slight issue, but it sounds like he could be okay for this one. If not we expect to see Dan Burn here.

Lewis Hall - If he's fit, he's got to start. Absolutely no question about it.

Midfielders

Joe Willock - We expect this game may come too soon to start either Joelinton or Lewis Miley, who we expect will be on the bench. So it could be a start for Willock.

Sandro Tonali - Needs to build on his outstanding performance at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Jacob Ramsey - As with Willock, it's probably too soon for Joelinton. Although Ramsey is starting to stake a big claim for a place in the starting lineup.

Forwards

Anthony Elanga - We keep backing Elanga to start, and Howe keeps going down a different route. So we're sticking with Elanga as we're bound to be right eventually.

Nick Woltemade - We almost went with Gordon through the middle and Harvey Barnes on the left. Wecan't leave Gordon out in the Champions League, and Big Nick scored at the weekend and should be rewarded.

Anthony Gordon - So it's Harvey Barnes who misses out, with Gordon playing down the left. Although we wouldn't be surprised to see Barnes on and Gordon through the middle with Woltemade on the bench.