Newcastle United (A) - Sat 28th Sept, 12:30 | PL | Pre-Match Thread

[Withnail]

Ke'vs not fit, unfortunately.

Not good news, chance perhaps for Phil to play that role.

 

[John Wayne]

A draw might not be a bad result without Rodri and De Bruyne. Their midfield is very physical and our two strongest midfielders are out. Obviously play to win, but be especially careful not to lose the ball cheaply.

 

[St.Pauli support]

If we want to be successful without our injured blues we should start to be ruthless in front of goal for a change and stop wasting 33 chances having in mind we'll create another 20 to finally score 2.

Get your killer instinct out lads. And I don't mean Erling...

 

[MCFC1993]

Not good news, chance perhaps for Phil to play that role.

I think next week maybe, not sure he looks ready for Newcastle away.

 

[mancboy]

So with no kdb maybe its time to jack in a role in the middle alongside kova and bernie, all three are happy to receive the ball in tight spaces, can drive with the ball, can beat a man , can pick a pass, and then let doku and savinho have the wings.

 

[pavelsrnicek]

I think this is a huge game for us. It’s the first league match after Rodri’s injury, if we drop points the narrative that we struggle without Rodri gets amplified. Doesn’t matter that it’s a tough place to go with or without Rodri.

They are scratching around looking for form. They can be decent in spells but have issues scoring. Isak would be a huge loss for them but Gordon is a very dangerous winger. No doubt Guimaraes will be trying to prove a point tomorrow. Howe usually sets them up well defensively.

The last two seasons we’ve played there we’ve started well then fallen off a cliff and dug ourselves out of trouble. We could really do with maintaining more control tomorrow.

With KDB out and Foden not quite fully sharp we may have issues with creativity. If it weren’t for our regular defensive lapses I wouldn’t be surprised at a 0-0. Would love to see how Lewis gets on against Gordon but I expect Walker to get the nod, despite having stinkers in his last 2 visits to St James. Would think that Grealish deserves a start as well.

We’ll need to be really on it from kick off. I think we may start Gundogan, Kovacic and Bernardo in the middle. Not the most physical or creative but should give us tempo and a degree of control. Would be good to have Doku and Foden as options from the bench.

Not sure how to call it, we’re more than capable of winning but we’ll need to play as we did for the opening 20 against Arsenal for 90 minutes. Hope we can do that in the absence of Rodri.

 

[Withnail]

I think next week maybe, not sure he looks ready for Newcastle away.

He doesn't look quite right at the moment, but with KDB missing it would be an ideal opportunity for him to get his mojo back.

 

[AlexWilliamsGloves]

Imagine we had big Yaya to play in the middle!! He loved a game against Newcastle

 

[Gone for a Burton]

I think this is a huge game for us. It’s the first league match after Rodri’s injury, if we drop points the narrative that we struggle without Rodri gets amplified. Doesn’t matter that it’s a tough place to go with or without Rodri.

They are scratching around looking for form. They can be decent in spells but have issues scoring. Isak would be a huge loss for them but Gordon is a very dangerous winger. No doubt Guimaraes will be trying to prove a point tomorrow. Howe usually sets them up well defensively.

The last two seasons we’ve played there we’ve started well then fallen off a cliff and dug ourselves out of trouble. We could really do with maintaining more control tomorrow.

With KDB out and Foden not quite fully sharp we may have issues with creativity. If it weren’t for our regular defensive lapses I wouldn’t be surprised at a 0-0. Would love to see how Lewis gets on against Gordon but I expect Walker to get the nod, despite having stinkers in his last 2 visits to St James. Would think that Grealish deserves a start as well.

We’ll need to be really on it from kick off. I think we may start Gundogan, Kovacic and Bernardo in the middle. Not the most physical or creative but should give us tempo and a degree of control. Would be good to have Doku and Foden as options from the bench.

Not sure how to call it, we’re more than capable of winning but we’ll need to play as we did for the opening 20 against Arsenal for 90 minutes. Hope we can do that in the absence of Rodri.

We need some power, strength, height and speed in midfield to complement our passing and movement.....Akanji !!

 

[Father Paul]

Not good news, chance perhaps for Phil to play that role.

Kev appears to be beyond playing three games in a week at this stage. Hopefully this is not another medium term injury as we will really start to struggle without those key players through the autumn.