Newcastle United take on Brighton this weekend, returning to St James’ Park for the first time since the win over Aston Villa.
Since then the Magpies have put another four points on the board, drawing with West Ham and beating Brentford.
Eddie Howe’s side are on a remarkable run – they’re currently seven Premier League games without defeat. That could become eight with a good result against Graham Potter’s men this afternoon.
But with multiple players vying for positions, will Howe be tempted to shuffle his flock against the Seagulls?
Faith in Emil Krafth
There was panic when Kieran Trippier picked up a lengthy injury against Aston Villa. And things got even worse when it was confirmed that Javi Manquillo was set for a spell on the sidelines too.
But Emil Krafth has performed well at right-back in their absence, and kept his place last week despite Manquillo being back on the bench.
The 27-year-old hasn’t really put a foot wrong, so it would be harsh to remove him from the starting XI. Therefore, we expect Howe to stick with the same back four that started against Brentford.
Allan Saint-Maximin on the bench
Before the Brighton game, Howe spoke about the return of Saint-Maximin. He admitted that the Frenchman hadn’t trained all week, but it was hoped he’d feature on Friday.
With that in mind, it feels highly unlikely that the the 24-year-old will start today. We expect Saint-Maximin to be on the bench, available to get some minutes late on in the game.
Therefore, Ryan Fraser and Jacob Murphy are likely to continue on the flanks. Fraser was moved to the left last week and thrived, so expect that to continue if Saint-Maximin is only fit enough for the bench.
Predicted XI vs Brighton: Dubravka; Krafth, Schar, Burn, Targett; Murphy, Willock, Shelvey, Joelinton, Fraser; Wood.
Receive a digest of our best Newcastle content each week direct to your mailbox
