We may be heading into Friday night’s huge home match with Aston Villa without Wilson, Almiron and Saint-Maximin, but there’s still a few changes Steve Bruce could and should make to boost our hopes of a win.
Jeff Hendrick and Emil Krafth both started in Sunday’s stalemate at West Brom, however it’s been clear for some time now that neither offer nearly enough.
How Hendrick gets in ahead of either Longstaff is beyond me – especially when Matty did little wrong when thrown in at the deep end against the likes of Liverpool and Man City before the turn of the year.
For me, I’d drop Hendrick, bring Willock back into a midfield three and recall one of Gayle or Murphy into the team, with last weekend’s dismal display highlighting how much we’re crying out for pace and an added goal threat in Wilson, Almiron and ASM’s absence.
Then to right-back and side opposition teams seem to get so much joy down whenever Javier Manquillo isn’t fit.
Emil Krafth tries his best and can’t be accused of not putting his body on the line, however his lack of pace, suspect positioning and limitations on the ball make him a considerable downgrade on the Spaniard.
Now Jack Grealish is being tipped to return just in time for Friday’s clash on Tyneside, it should be a no-brainer to bring Manquillo back in after he returned to the squad at West Brom.
How would you like to see us line up against Villa?
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Fernandez should be a definite starter -100% better than ” Liability Lascelles ”
AEJ007(Quote)