After a week of takeover and transfer talk, actual football returns as Newcastle welcome Norwich to St James’ Park.
The Magpies were woeful last week against Oxford, but have managed to pick up five impressive points from their last three Premier League outings.
Can they put another three points on the board at the expense of the Canaries?
Danny Rose to start
Newcastle’s third and final January signing was Danny Rose, and we expect him to start at left wing-back.
Steve Bruce confirmed ahead of the game that the 29-year-old will feature, and he’ll likely take Matt Ritchie’s place.
Despite Ritchie’s leadership qualities, Bruce will surely be keen to see what Rose can offer straight away.
Bentaleb over the Longstaffs?
With DeAndre Yedlin back fit, Isaac Hayden can move back to his usual position of centre midfield. And with Jonjo Shelvey ruled out, it’s a fight between the Longstaff brothers and Nabil Bentaleb to see who starts alongside Hayden.
Between those three, it should be Bentaleb.
The Algerian international is better on the ball than the academy graduates, and there’ll be pressure on Bentaleb to dictate things in Shelvey’s absence.
Lazaro must wait
Valentino Lazaro is the one January signing who should start on the bench.
It’s hard to see where he could walk into the starting XI. He’s not a natural right-back, and there’s no real reason to drop any of the front three.
Miguel Almiron has been strong since late December, Allan Saint-Maximin has the x-factor, and Joelinton has shown a little bit more since his FA Cup goal.
Predicted lineup to face Norwich: Dubravka; Schar, Lascelles, Clark; Yedlin, Hayden, Bentaleb, Rose; Almiron, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton.
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