Is Newcastle United midfielder Mohamed Diame under pressure for his starting position?
Newcastle United travel to Cardiff City at the weekend for their second Premier League game of the season and will be looking to get some points on the board after an opening day 2-1 loss to Tottenham.
The Magpies interestingly had no new faces in their starting XI against Spurs from last season, with Martin Dubravka and Kenedy (loan) rejoining the club over the summer.
Manager Rafael Benitez went with the players that kept them in the top flight last season, but there are a few new signings that can surely push for a starting XI position moving forward.
One of them is midfielder Ki Sung-yueng following his arrival from Swansea City and the pass master can definitely put pressure on mainstay Mohamed Diame.
Diame grew into an important player for Newcastle last season as a colossus in the centre of the park, but the 31-year-old wasn’t quite at his best against Spurs and is known as a player that can be inconsistent.
The Senegal international may well get the nod for the trip to Cardiff on Saturday, but his starting position may be under threat with fresh competition behind him.
Ki is a slightly different type of midfielder and may not possess the same presence as Diame, but previously linked up extremely well with Newcastle’s Jonjo Shelvey during their time together at Swansea.
The Ki-Shelvey partnership is surely something that Benitez has pondered and it’s up to Diame to prove he should keep his place in the side.
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