Newcastle United entertain new league leaders Norwich City on Wednesday night.
Newcastle United threw away two points at Villa Park on Saturday, in a game that they should have really won.
Their next test is against the other side who they were relegated with last season, welcoming league leaders Norwich City to St James’ Park.
The Canaries went to the top of the league on Saturday, beating Burton 3-1 while Huddersfield were defeated by Reading.
With Rafael Benitez’s side expecting a tough game against Norwich, here are five changes they need to make from their 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.
Be more ruthless
Newcastle had countless opportunities to kill the game off against Aston Villa, but they failed to capitalise and had to defend their one goal lead for the final 20 minutes, which ended with the home side finding an equaliser and robbing a point.
Dwight Gayle and Mo Diame missed big chances with the score at 1-0, and a second Newcastle goal would have stopped any momentum Villa had and ensured the Magpies went back to Tyneside with three points.
Instead, they had to settle for one. Benitez’s side need to be more clinical against Norwich if they are to pick up a win.
Drop Diame
Diame in the number 10 position just is not working. It worked once against Brighton, but that was as good as it got for the summer signing.
When Newcastle play away from home, it is understandable why Benitez opts for Diame instead of another striker, but at home they need to be positive and take the game to the opposition.
Diame has not shown enough to suggest he has the energy to play as part of a pair in the middle for Newcastle, so should sit out the game against Norwich.
Go with two up top
Dropping Diame should mean bringing in another forward and going with a pair rather than a lone striker.
Although he did miss a golden chance, Gayle’s movement got Newcastle their opening goal, and he deserves the chance to play alongside another striker.
Aleksandar Mitrovic has to be the leading candidate, and Newcastle fans have been dying to see the Serbian line up next to Gayle. Norwich presents an opportunity to do this.
Threaten down both flanks
Newcastle’s right flank caused countless problems for Aston Villa, with Matt Ritchie and DeAndre Yedlin dovetailing brilliantly, which helped the Magpies take the lead. The pair were a constant threat, but the same cannot be said for the pair down the left.
Yoan Gouffran and Paul Dummett did not have as much joy, which is down to the left-back’s unwillingness to go forward. Although Dummett is not as blessed going forward as some full backs, Gouffran needs support from the left back to cause more problems down the left.
Either Dummett needs to be bolder going forward, or Benitez needs to take a risk and bring in Achraf Lazaar instead.
Keep Tiote away
It certainly was not the Ivorian’s fault, but everything seemed to go wrong once Cheick Tiote came on against Villa.
The midfielder made his first appearance of the season, and looked sluggish, running through treacle and missing tackles, allowing the Villa forwards to run at the black and white defence.
Tiote looked to be leaving St James’ Park earlier in the summer, but the 30-year-old has remained on Tyneside and looks nowhere near fit enough to be a part of Newcastle’s midfield.
Newcastle’s number 24 is not the player he was when he arrived in England, and Rafa should look at Jack Colback over Tiote if he wants to change things in midfield.
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