Newcastle United will look to move one step closer to retaining their Premier League status and pick up their third successive home win when they host fellow strugglers Huddersfield Town at St James’ Park on Saturday.
The Magpies faced a crunch clash against Southampton on Tyneside last time and a comprehensive 3-0 victory moved them four points clear of Saints and the relegation zone, with Chelsea loanee Kenedy scoring a brace and Matt Ritchie also getting a goal.
The Toon will know that they can move to within five points of the magic 40-point mark with a victory against the Terriers, with seven matches still left to play following the clash against the Yorkshire outfit.
Rafa Benitez took his side to a training camp in Spain during their three-week break without a top flight fixture, and he will hope that his players can pick up from where they left off before the international break, and that his players have returned unscathed.
The Spaniard will know that his team are still in a precarious position right now considering they still have to play Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester City and Everton away from home, and if they can’t win against Town on Saturday they really need to make sure they don’t lose, either.
The hosts will certainly fancy their chances of overturning David Wagner’s men considering they have only taken 11 points on the road, and netted just 25 goals in total.
Benitez reverted to a 4-4-1-1 formation and made three changes to his XI for the visit of Saints last time out, and while ideally he would probably want to make no alterations this weekend, the situation may be taken out of his hands.
Here is how Newcastle must line up against Huddersfield, ahead of Martin Dubravka in goal…
Newcastle’s back five of Dubravka, DeAndre Yedlin, captain Jamaal Lascelles, Florian Lejeune and Paul Dummett have kept successive clean sheets at St James’ Park, and there is no reason why they won’t all be selected to try and get a third when Huddersfield come to Tyneside.
Lascelles and Lejeune’s partnership at the heart of the defence is continuing to flourish, while Yedlin and Dummett have been particularly impressive from a defensive point of view in recent weeks, with Dubravka seemingly giving the backline more confidence than they perhaps had previously.
Jonjo Shelvey put in a man-of-the-match display alongside Mo Diame in the middle of the park against Southampton, and the duo must get the nod against Huddersfield too with Mikel Merino, who the fans want to see deployed in a more advanced position, and Isaac Hayden once again settling for a place on the substitutes’ bench.
Kenedy must start on the left of the midfield four following his brace and all-round impressive showing in the win against Saints last time out, but Benitez may have a decision to make on the right after Matt Ritchie picked up a groin problem while on international duty with Scotland.
If the 28-year-old isn’t 100% fit then he shouldn’t be risked ahead of the run-in, with Jacob Murphy more than capable of stepping in and causing the Terriers defence plenty of problems.
Ayoze Perez hasn’t always made the biggest impact on matches playing in the No 10 role behind the striker this season, but he was heavily involved in Newcastle’s 3-0 win against Southampton last time out having been dropped against Liverpool, and he deserves his place in the XI for the visit of the Terriers.
Meanwhile, Dwight Gayle didn’t get a goal against Saints but he worked hard and caused plenty of problems, and he will certainly fancy his chances of finding the net against another lowly Premier League side.
While Islam Slimani played 25 minutes for Algeria during the week it may not be enough for him to make the squad on Saturday, and he should only be risked if he is 100% fit.
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