Steve Bruce has the chance to make it two wins in two when Newcastle head to Preston for a pre-season friendly.
It will be the Magpies’ first game back on English soil, having competed over in China in the Premier League Asia Trophy.
Since then, the signing of Joelinton has been confirmed and the Brazilian could make his first Newcastle appearance at Deepdale on Saturday afternoon.
But should he start? And who else should Bruce pick for the clash with the Championship outfit?
Give Woodman more minutes
Martin Dubravka played the full game in Newcastle’s win over West Ham, but our first-choice stopper should make way for youngster Freddie Woodman.
He’s highly-rated, and needs minutes to prove to Bruce that he can be Dubravka’s backup. Either that, or he needs a loan move to get first-team football.
3-5-2 again
The 3-5-2 formation seemed to work for Bruce last time out, so hopefully we’ll go with it again.
Federico Fernandez should come into the middle of the back three, having came off the bench in both Asia Trophy outings. He should be flankedJoe by Fabian Schar and Paul Dummett.
The latter also hasn’t started a game yet, and needs minutes under his belt. As a left-footer, he should be the first choice to start on the left of the defensive three while Florian Lejeune is out of action.
Jamie Sterry has played a lot so far, but should step aside against Preston for Javi Manquillo. The Spaniard is more experience than Sterry, who doesn’t seem likely to have a big future in black and white.
Longstaff to start
Sean Longstaff made his long awaited comeback from injury against West Ham, coming on in the 64th minute. The midfielder should be a starter for Newcastle this season, and needs a chance from the start to prove this to Bruce.
Also in the centre, we need Jonjo Shelvey for some creativity, while Ki Sung-Yueng also deserves a chance from the off. The South Korean hasn’t featured much, but should be ahead of Jack Colback in the midfield pecking order.
With that trio, we have three players who are good in possession. We should be able to control proceedings against Preston.
Joelinton on the bench
The record signing is ready to make his debut, but it should come from the bench. Yoshinori Muto and Elias Sorensen did well last time out, and should get another chance to show what they can do.
Joelinton will eventually be the main man, but we must ease him in rather than throwing him into the deep end.
Predicted lineup to face Preston: Woodman; Schar, Fernandez, Dummett; Manquillo, Longstaff, Shelvey, Ki, Ritchie; Muto, Sorensen.
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