NUFC dealt injury blow ahead of Burnley game – but this could be Benitez’s surprise solution..

While the extent of his injury is yet to be announced, Paul Dummett looks likely to miss next week’s trip to Burnley after injuring himself on international duty – and we’ve been thinking of a few solutions Rafa Benitez may be considering due to our lack of cover at left-back.

Javier Manquillo has shown that he just isn’t up to the grade, especially to cover for a sustained period of games if Dummett’s injury is as bad as feared. Yedlin is already being targeted by opposition teams so we would struggle with another weak link at full back, all of which means that Rafa may consider changing formation to get the most out the squad and compensate for our clear strength and depth at centre half.

As revealed by @BlackWhiteBarmy on Twitter, here are a few line-ups that we think could work well next Monday:

Kenedy has experience playing at full back for Chelsea but clearly struggled there for Newcastle when part of a back four; being a wing back hopefully wouldn’t curtail his attacking abilities as much. These teams would allow us to reward Schar with a starting berth after his fine form and partnership with Fernandez, whilst enabling a return to the side for skipper Lascelles. Three strong centre halves also counters the defensive weakness of Yedlin too, who is often out of position in a defensive four.

The second line up allows Shelvey to return in exchange for some width but thanks for the fine form of Schar and Ki, it is nice to finally have some decisions to make on the makeup of the Newcastle starting XI. Rafa will be reluctant to change formation of course but I personally would love to the see first team above given a go at Burnley.

What personnel or formation would you go with if Dummett is out for the foreseeable future?

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Simon Riddlesden

Lifelong Newcastle United fan and East Stand season ticket holder. Observations from a supporter who has followed NUFC during Champions League participation and through relegation, taking me from Milan to Scunthorpe.

One thought on “NUFC dealt injury blow ahead of Burnley game – but this could be Benitez’s surprise solution..

  1. It’s not Yeddlin out of position ffs, it’s Ritchie ahead of him who goes missing time and time again.
    The amount of times Yeddlin is left marking two attackers is too many to count.
    Unless Ritchie can learn to cover back when needed we might as well not play him.
    If Yeddlin marks one attacker he leaves the other free and vice versa. Ritchie is nowhere to be seen when it comes to defensive cover.

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