Newcastle United ‘leader’ has a golden chance to prove Eddie Howe has been making a big mistake

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Eddie Howe will be forced to change a winning Newcastle United team against West Ham United.

The Magpies are next in action on November 25th, when West Ham United travel to St James’ Park. Eddie Howe will be pondering whether he should make any changes to his team, having seemingly identified the recipe for success in recent weeks.

Howe has found Newcastle’s best midfield three, while he has also gotten joy from utilising Joelinton out wide. The Brazilian has succeeded on the right and the left, much to the delight of the Newcastle United manager.

While Howe will be reluctant to tinker too much following that win against Nottingham Forest, he will know that he has to make at least one change to his starting XI against the Hammers.

Dan Burn suspended for Newcastle United

During Newcastle’s 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest, Dan Burn picked up a booking.

It was his fifth of the season, which means Burn will now serve a one-match suspension. That is a blow, as Newcastle are already short of centre-back options.

And with Emil Krafth injured, there is one obvious choice to take Burn’s place in the starting XI – Lloyd Kelly.

Lloyd Kelly set for the Newcastle chance he has been waiting for

For the first time in the Premier League, Lloyd Kelly is on course to start for Newcastle United at centre-back.

Most of his minutes in black and white have come at left-back, with his only start as a central defender coming in the Carabao Cup win over Chelsea.

Kelly has proven that centre-back is his best position, while Lewis Hall has made the left side of defence his own with his remarkable run of form.

That has resulted in Kelly spending a lot of time on the bench. In Newcastle’s previous six Premier League games, he has made just two appearances. In the defeat to Chelsea, he came on in the 89th minute, while the win over Arsenal saw him introduced in the 95th minute.

It has been a frustrating period for Kelly, who has not been afforded the luxury of starting at centre-back in the Premier League. Burn has kept him out of the team, but that is about to change.

It is a golden opportunity for Kelly, who sees himself as a ‘leader’ on the pitch for Newcastle. The 26-year-old can prove to Howe that he has been making a mistake, and that he should be regularly starting Kelly in the heart of defence ahead of Burn.

For that to happen, Kelly will need to prove that he offers more than Burn. That is certainly the case when it comes to speed, as Burn’s lack of pace has caused Newcastle problems at times this season.

Kelly is much quicker, and it will be interesting to see whether that attribute helps Newcastle against West Ham on November 25th. If it does, Howe will have a difficult decision to make moving forwards.