Eddie Howe finally found a winning formula for Newcastle United in the Premier League and it would be foolish to change it ahead of Sunday’s clash with Nottingham Forest.
Indeed, Newcastle beat Brighton last week to end a four-match winless run in the Premier League heading into the trip to beaten Europa League semi-finalists Forest.
Here’s my hot take heading into Forest – prove me wrong 👇
Howe made unpopular team selection decisions last week and while they do not inspire much confidence long-term, they did work against the Seagulls to a certain extent.
As such, it’s difficult to make much of an argument about changing the Newcastle United set-up…
Newcastle United predicted XI vs Nottingham Forest
Frankly, there’s little need to mix things up. There have been far too many changes in recent weeks.
None of Nick Pope, Dan Burn, Joe Willock or Jacob Murphy are likely to win many popularity awards online right now but that will not factor into Howe’s thinking.
What changes would you make to this team and why? 👀
They all broadly did well against Brighton and deserve the chance to go again here. Really, the only change should be that Kieran Trippier replaces the injured Lewis Miley at right-back.
Newcastle United predicted XI vs Forest: Pope; Trippier, Thiaw, Botman, Burn; Guimaraes, Tonali, Joelinton, J. Murphy, Osula, Willock
Newcastle United confirmed team news vs Nottingham Forest
Howe reported no fresh injuries during his pre-match press conference, other than confirming the news that the aforementioned Miley would miss the game after suffering a broken leg in training.
Of Miley, Howe said: “It was a really innocuous moment, training on Tuesday. There was no other player involved. He was unable to continue and it was a little more serious than we thought.
“The surgery went well, he now faces a few months out, we hope he will be back in and around pre-season. It is a shame as he was playing well, outstanding in recent weeks and we really missed him.
“A real blow for us but also for Lewi It’s been a huge frustration for him.”
Howe also confirmed that Anthony Gordon remains committed to the cause at Newcastle despite transfer links with Bayern Munich and Barcelona.
Newcastle United injury latest vs Nottingham Forest
Miley joins Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar and Emil Krafth on the sidelines.
Given Schar and Krafth are coming towards the end of their contracts, it remains to be seen if they – along with Livramento given all the transfer speculation that surrounds him – ever play for Newcastle again.
Aside from that, Howe has a fully fit squad from which to choose.
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