Newcastle face Tranmere Rovers on Wednesday evening in the Carabao Cup, and the Magpies may well fancy themselves to win this competition this year.
United certainly head into Wednesday’s game against League Two opposition as heavy favourites, but looking beyond this week, Newcastle have a chance of making a real impact in the cup this year.
Indeed, the Magpies are riding on the crest of a wave at the moment and as their draw with Manchester City showed at the weekend, they can go toe-to-toe with any team on the planet.
Newcastle haven’t won any silverware for over 50 years at this point, and they will be looking to put that right with a run in the League Cup this term.
With that in mind, we’ve had a go at predicting Eddie Howe’s starting XI for this one.
As many Premier League sides do in the early stages of this competition, we expect Newcastle to rotate heavily here.
Indeed, we’re predicting no fewer than eight changes to the team that put Manchester City to the sword on Sunday.
Martin Dubravka starts in goal, while Fabian Schar is the only player in the backline who retains his place as Matt Targett, Jamaal Lascelles and Emil Krafth all come back into the side.
Eliott Anderson starts in midfield alongside Matty Longstaff and Joe Willock.
Miguel Almiron is the third player to retain his spot in this team as he plays alongside Jacob Murphy and Chris Wood in the frontline.
This is far from Newcastle’s strongest XI, but with a tricky Premier League game against Wolves on the horizon this weekend, the Magpies are likely to rotate, and against Tranmere, they shouldn’t need to be at their very best to get a result.
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