The team sheets are out for Newcastle United’s Thursday night clash with Al-Hilal, seeing Eddie Howe field a strong side against the Saudi Pro League champions.
Here’s the starting 11 he’s gone with ahead of the 5pm kick off at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium:
NUFC XI: Karius – Manquillo, Lascelles, Botman, Lewis – Shelvey, Willock, Joelinton – Murphy, Wood, Saint-Maximin.
Subs: Gillespie, Fraser, Almiron, Anderson, Burn, Longstaff, White, Stephenson, Turner-Cooke, A.Murphy, Miley.
So, a debut for Loris Karius and starts for Jonjo Shelvey, Allan Saint-Maximin and the rarely-seen Jamal Lewis; who’s been given a big chance to impress Eddie Howe in Riyadh.
Miguel Almiron is on the bench alongside Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff and a host of U21 talents who’ve been called up to the trip.
It’s worth noting that SIX Newcastle United players remain absent from our warm-weather camp in Saudi Arabia, with Kieran Trippier, Callum Wilson, Nick Pope, Bruno Guimaraes, Fabian Schar and Garang Kuol all featuring in the World Cup.
