Predicting Newcastle United’s XI for Premier League opener vs Aston Villa, including £120m boost

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Newcastle United will hope to have some new signings in the squad by the time they begin their campaign for the new Premier League season away at Aston Villa.

It hasn’t been the best of summers for Newcastle United thus far. While we remain in the early stages of the transfer window, the club are yet to act and there is a relative amount of chaos behind the scenes.

Sporting director Paul Mitchell is leaving Newcastle in June, complicating matters in the transfer market.

Still, Newcastle are confident of making new signings. At some point, it surely has to happen.

Newcastle’s first game of the 2025/26 Premier League is away at Aston Villa, which is a very difficult start to the season.

However, amid so much doom and gloom, here’s a confident prediction of Eddie Howe’s starting XI for the Villa game.

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Newcastle United XI vs Aston Villa: Predicted lineup including Joao Pedro and Anthony Elanga

Joao Pedro is Newcastle’s leading attacking target this summer and, hopefully, he comes into the team. Geordie Boot Boys understands that Brighton want at least £60million for Pedro. 

Newcastle want to sign Anthony Elanga too, with the Nottingham Forest forward again having emerged as a target. Sources have told Geordie Boot Boys that Forest value Elanga at around £60million, meaning the club could have £120million worth of new attacking additions to deploy. 

Furthermore, Newcastle want to sign James Trafford from Burnley, almost a year on from when they initially tried to land the goalkeeper.

Eddie Howe wants Newcastle to sign players quickly and, while that currently feels unlikely, there’s still technically enough time to get them all in by the time pre-season starts. 

With that in mind, here’s how an optimistic Newcastle United lineup would look.

Newcastle United’s record away at Aston Villa: Head to head (h2h) history and results

Newcastle have a good record on the opening day of the Premier League season but their record away at Villa leaves a lot to be desired.

They were thrashed 4-1 there in April and have won only one of their last six trips to the Birmingham giants.

Last season, only three teams – including Newcastle – won more games at home than Villa.

It’s an incredibly difficult start for Howe’s side. However, if the Newcastle United squad is added to over the coming weeks, they can at least take some confidence into the game.