Newcastle will have Fabian Schar available for Saturday’s home game against Crystal Palace.
The centre-back has missed our previous two games due to suspension, having picked up his 10th yellow card of the season against Everton.
His ill-discipline could have cost him his place in Rafa Benitez’s side, but it doesn’t look like it will.
Schar has been a massive miss
With Schar out of the team, Benitez could have changed system, but he continued to persevere with three centre-backs.
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Paul Dummett was the man to come in, forcing Florian Lejeune to play as the right centre-back. While Dummett was defensively great against Bournemouth, his lack of ability on the ball meant we struggled in possession.
Schar’s biggest attribute is his passing range, and it has been a key reason why we’ve been so successful in 2019. The 27-year-old can bring the ball out of defence and start attacks from deep, which makes up for the man less in midfield.
But while he’s been out of the team, we’ve not looked as confident in possession. The Arsenal game in particular was one of the worst we’ve been on the ball all season.
Assuming he is fit following his head injury sustained while on international duty, Schar should come back into the team to take on Crystal Palace. Otherwise we might struggle to extend our home record to six wins in a row.