Barring any unexpected injury announcements from Bruce’s pre-match press conference tomorrow, the Newcastle side to play Burnley on Saturday looks pretty straight forward.
With injuries, form and fitness in mind, here’s the NUFC XI that looks very likely to start at Turf Moor:
(5-2-2-1): Dubravka – Manquillo, Schar, Fernandez, Dummett, Willems – Hayden, Shelvey – Almiron, Atsu – Carroll.
OUT: Clark, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton.
IN: Schar, Astu, Carroll.
Saint-Maximin has been ruled out until 2020 after injuring him hamstring last weekend, while Ciaran Clark also limped off at half-time with a calf injury.
With that in mind, Atsu looks almost certain to step in for ASM, while a Clark’s knock appears to be Fabian Schar’s route back into the starting 11 – no matter how minor the Irishman’s ‘injury’ is.
Up top, Carroll looks nailed on to start. Not only was he MUCH more useful than Joelinton vs Southampton, Steve Bruce will need every bit of the 6ft 4′ striker him for what promises to be a real battle against a big and physical Burnley side.
Bruce may yet surprise us and make the odd change, with Sean Longstaff, Dwight Gayle and DeAndre Yedlin options if he felt the need to rotate, but I can’t see past this side at the weekend.
How do you see us lining up come 3pm Saturday?
