Ayoze Perez has been ruled out of today’s game against Birmingham City due to an apparent fever, but who should replace the Spaniard in the Newcastle side?
Well, at the start of the season, there seemed to be much enthusiasm from fans, who wanted to start Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dwight Gayle up front together, perhaps that could be an option now.
The Magpies come into this game off the back of three straight defeats, making changes to the side even more likely than usual.
However, it is unlikely that Rafa Benitez will change a formation that he has had a lot of success with this season. Making it more likely that Mo Diame will return to the starting eleven.
Diame has received heavy criticism this week, after what many felt was a lacklustre cameo appearance against Nottingham Forest. Criticism that I feel is slightly unfair.
Diame was introduced when Forest were already dominating play and although he may not have contributed much energy wise, he did, I felt, hold his position well.
If Diame starts, as would seem likely, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him be the star of the show against Birmingham.
