Shock inclusion on the bench as Eddie Howe names his team to face Wolverhampton Wanderers

Eddie Howe has named the side to face Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League this afternoon.

We said in our predicted lineup piece that the team pretty much picks itself at this point given the amount of injuries Newcastle United are currently contending with.

As a result, we said there'd be one change to the team that started against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday and that would be Callum Wilson replacing the injured Alexander Isak.

We nailed our predicted XI but we'd never have seen that bench coming

That's exactly what Eddie Howe has done as our predicted starting XI to face Wolves was 100% right.

The big surprise comes on the bench as Emil Krafth makes it onto the team sheet.

Krafth has been missing since August 2022 after picking up an ACL injury in the game against Tranmere Rovers in the Carabao Cup.

The bench shows just how bad things are for Newcastle right now

The rest of the bench really shows how much Newcastle are struggling for squad depth right now.

Two goalkeepers, Mark Gillespie and Martin Dubravka are named on the bench, as are Paul Dummett and Matt Ritchie. It's not the strongest of benches for Newcastle.

Hopefully, the starting XI can stay fit so that Eddie Howe's not having to rely on substitutes. Joe Willock, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall may all get their chance to shine at some point today, but it's mostly going to be down to those who are on the field at kick-off to get the job done.