Newcastle hit the road this weekend for a traditional 3.00pm kick-off on Saturday, when they go to Carrow Road to face newly promoted Norwich City.
The hosts did not do much spending in the summer, and while it is a game that Newcastle will be looking to take all three points, facing them in their first home game back in the Premier League will make it a more daunting prospect.
There is sure to be tidal wave of emotional support from the home fans, and it could inspire the Canaries to over-perform, and is something Steve Bruce’s side most take into consideration.
But the Newcastle players will be backed by an equally vociferous Toon Army, with tickets for the away end having sold out days ago.
Early injury news
Newcastle’s only new doubt is Jonjo Shelvey, who had to come off against Arsenal with a knee injury.
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Steve Bruce said it did not appear to be too serious, and will be hopeful the influential midfielder will be available for the trip to East Anglia.
The Magpies will still be without new signing Andy Carroll, as he bids to return to full fitness. Florian Lejeune, DeAndre Yedlin and Christian Atsu are all still sidelined with long-term injuries, while Dwight Gayle’s recovery from a calf strain has him rated at 50-50.
Norwich will be without defender Christoph Zimmerman, as well as midfielders Louis Thompson and Alexander Tettey due to knee, thigh and calf injuries respectively.
New loanee signing, midfielder Ibrahim Amadou could feature, while defender Timm Klose has a good chance of recovering from his groin issue in time for the game.
Referee: Stuart Attwell
The Warwickshire official will take charge of a Newcastle game for the 13th time – 11 of which were in Premier League games. In those games he has shown no red cards to either side, while brandishing 26 yellow cards to Toon players, and 27 to the opposition.
He has awarded only one penalty in that time – to Crystal Palace in his last game involving Newcastle in April, for a foul on Wilfried Zaha, which was scored for the only goal of the game.
He has been in charge for eight Norwich games throughout his career, booking 13 of their players, 15 for the opposition and again, has not sent anyone off. The only penalty awarded in those games was for Wigan in 2011.
Points to prove
The game will see both Tim Krul and Grant Hanley facing their former side, with the latter likely to be feeling he has a point to prove to the club that brought him in during their Championship season, only to deem him not good enough for the Premier League when they won promotion.
Although Rafa Benitez is not at Newcastle anymore, he will still want to show Newcastle fans he was written off unfairly, as he skippers the Canaries in their first season back in the top flight.
Krul, of course, has nothing to prove to anyone, and is certain to receive a very warm welcome from the away end when he lines up in front of them.
Likely formations
Newcastle played a 3-5 2 lineup against Arsenal, and are likely to do the same at Norwich, with Miguel Almiron again playing just off frontman Joelinton.
Norwich were thrashed on Friday night at Liverpool, but were quite plucky at times, employing a 4-2-3-1 formation, and they will be likely to follow suit against Newcastle at the weekend.