Benitez To Make 5 Changes – Predicted 4-4-1-1 Newcastle Line-Up To Face Arsenal In The Premier League

Predicted Newcastle United Line-up To Face Arsenal In The Premier League

Newcastle United’s takeover cannot come quick enough for the fans, though a chink of light is that the new owners are apparently insisting on money being made available to Rafa Benitez in January before agreeing on the purchase.

For now though, Rafa will have to make do with what is a Championship squad and one which will once again be without Jonjo Shelvey after yet another stupid decision leaves him suspended. Frankly, he is not as good as the emerging Mikel Merino and it seems they cannot play well together. No big miss.

The 4-4-1-1 formation still looks the way to go, but surely with Ayoze Perez in the no.10 position rather than the utterly hapless Mo Diame:

Formation: 4-4-1-1

Manager: Rafael Benitez

GK – Rob Elliot

Rafa has struggled with his ‘keepers, though Karl Darlow’s vital mistake against Everton which gifted them the win may mean his place is in jeopardy.

RB – DeAndre Yedlin

The American will need to stay disciplined here, but it’ll be a hard afternoon.

CB – Florian Lejeune

Works just fine with the skipper so the central defensive pairing should remain unchanged.

CB – Jamaal Lascelles

The captain’s return is welcome and to be fair, the defence was largely untroubled on Wednesday. Up front though, it is a different matter.

LB – Ciaran Clark

Admittedly I’ve thrown Clark into this position more in hope than expectation, as Mbemba or Manquillo will probably be chosen. But Clark would be a much more solid proposition on this side.

RW – Jacob Murphy

Changes are afoot and even though the admirable Ritchie carries on in decent form, it’s possible Rafa would go with more pace on the wings this time.

CM – Isaac Hayden

Shelvey is out so Hayden is the obvious replacement, though he and Merino are arguably a much better balance anyway.

CM – Mikel Merino

Not the finished article of course, but Merino is classy and does everything Shelvey does without the bonehead tackles.

LW – Christian Atsu

If Ritchie plays then it’s possible Murphy will turn up on this side. However, Rafa may go with more youth and pace so it’ll be interesting to see Atsu run up against the Arsenal full-back.

SS – Ayoze Perez

Perez may be no world beater but the 4-4-2 doesn’t work and Mo Diame is frankly useless. So for me, the Spaniard is the only option here.

ST – Dwight Gayle

The fans seem to love Mitrovic and the gaffer seems to love Joselu, though frankly the only one with any pace and some reasonable finishing prowess is Gayle and he must start here.