Wholesale changes including second start for £28m man - NUFC predicted lineup to face Man Utd

Newcastle United take on Manchester United tomorrow in the Carabao Cup fourth round, in a contest that's a repeat of last year's final at Wembley.

We'll start by saying that this lineup prediction has caused ructions in the office. It's by far the hardest one we've ever done as Newcastle have a massive injury crisis.

Eddie Howe has to protect his big players with huge fixtures against Arsenal in the Premier League and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League coming up in the next seven days.

So does the head coach go all out to try and continue in the Carabao Cup, or does he potentially risk an exit by putting out a second-string side?

We've gone with something that mixes both and has players popping up in places you might not expect, but we think this team can still do some damage to Manchester United, especially in their current form.

Goalkeeper

Nick Pope - Will not play tomorrow. Despite a couple of howlers at the weekend, he's still our number one. Howe will likely use this opportunity to protect him and give Martin Dúbravka a rare start against the side he represented in this competition last season.

Defence

Tino Livramento - It's time for Tino to shine as Kieran Trippier is given a rest after a couple of horse-radish performances.

Jamaal Lascelles - El Capitan will keep his place in the side as, well, there isn't really anyone else, is there? Although Emil Krafth could be ready to be thrown in at the deep end, albeit out of position.

Paul Dummett - Dummy did very well on his last time out and we see no reason why he can't put in another shift as the left-sided centre back tomorrow.

Matt Targett - Giving Big Dan Burn a rest, Targett will step back into the fold.

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Midfield

Joe Willock - Eddie Howe said this morning that Willock is close to starting again, so we're taking that as 24 hours close.

Bruno Guimarães - We need some familiarity in each section of the pitch and Bruno will bring that to the midfield.

Lewis Hall - Currently on loan from Chelsea, we've got an obligation to buy him for £28 million at the end of the season so it's about time we got another look at what we're paying for.

Forwards

Matt Ritchie - This one nearly caused fisticuffs in the office as we argued over Ritchie or Miguel Almirón. We've gone with Ritchie because Howe recently took time out to praise him seemingly out of nowhere, so perhaps he had this game in mind.

Joelinton - Back out on the left of the attack for J7, which is arguably his best position. He'll also give whomever Howe selects in goal an aerial target for longer kicks, which could be handy.

Anthony Gordon - In an effort to rest Callum Wilson, Gordon will play as a striker for this one. It's not an unfamiliar role for him so it should be all good.

How confident are we that we've got this one right? Somewhere between 0% and 0.05%, thanks for asking. Still, howay the lads!