After a great win against Fulham at the weekend, Newcastle United and Eddie Howe now have the chance to make it two consecutive semi-final appearances should they beat Chelsea on Tuesday.
Howe has a big chance to make himself a hero at Newcastle and that all starts with a win against Chelsea to kick off what should be a fresh start for the Geordies this season after being knocked out of the Champions League.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side are struggling this season even without the added pressure of European football, so the Argentinian will be desperate to get his hands on some silverware to buy himself more time.
Emil Krafth to start after brilliant performance on Saturday
Krafth was not expecting to make such a big contribution in Saturday’s game but the £5m signing coped very well with the pressure and actually looked just as good as he had done before the unfortunate ACL injury that had kept him out for a year.
Howe was very impressed with the Swede as he claimed he was ‘absolutely huge‘ for Newcastle in the crucial 3-0 victory to end the run of three defeats.
Though Kieran Trippier is back in contention for this game after serving a one-game suspension, Howe may want to keep the England international fresh for the very busy schedule ahead.
Krafth is more than capable of handling Chelsea’s attack who have struggled for goals this season, and going forwards the Swedish international looks to have improved his attacking output.
Lewis Miley to be dropped despite historic day vs Fulham
It was a brilliant moment to see the young Miley score his first ever goal for Newcastle, the youngest to do so for the Magpies in the Premier League, but Howe will be very wary about how much he is currently playing at his age.
Despite the injury to Joelinton in the game against Fulham, the Brazilian looked fine as he completed a lap around the pitch, so we could well see the 27-year-old face Chelsea.
The last thing Howe needs, however, is having to deal with even more injuries after getting a few names back against Fulham. It was good to see Sven Botman back in the team but it may still be too early to risk the Dutch defender playing a full 90 minutes.
Miley may feel somewhat hard done by if his name isn’t selected for the trip to Stamford Bridge, but he’s an intelligent player and a hard working talent who will only be more motivated to make sure he’s included in the next squad.
Predicted XI vs Chelsea: Dubravka; Krafth, Lascelles, Burn, Livramento; Longstaff, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton; Almiron, Wilson, Gordon
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