Newcastle United will take on Blackburn at St. James’ Park tomorrow in the third round of the FA Cup.
Newcastle United will take a break from Premier League action this weekend as they will be competing in the FA Cup against Blackburn. Tomorrow’s visitors are currently 15th in the EFL Championship standings with 34 points from 26 matches. Newcastle are in the same boat in the Premier League as they, too, sit in 15th place, but only have 18 points from 21 matches.
Newcastle are currently fighting for Top Flight survival and a difficult stretch of matches against the standard members of the top six is only making life more difficult on Tyneside. Some fans hope to see the Magpies advance to the next round and others, myself included, only see the FA Cup fixtures as a distraction. Regardless of our opinions, though, Newcastle will host Blackburn tomorrow and kick-off is scheduled for 6:30PM.
Strong Lineup or Weak Lineup?
The answer everyone wants to know is whether or not Newcastle will deploy a starting lineup comprised of key players or youngsters looking for playing time? Only Rafa Benitez knows the answer, but my guess would be a mixed lineup of regular starters and young players.
The FA Cup means a lot to the Toon Army due to the fact that the last time Newcastle won the trophy was in 1955, but Benitez is clearly only focused on avoiding relegation. That being said, the players he selects to play tomorrow will be expected to perform against an inferior opponent from the second tier.
Blackburn may be underdogs in this match, but they aim to advance to the next round. The fact that the Rovers defeated West Brom a few days ago should bode well for their confidence against Newcastle, especially if Benitez selects players from the reserve squad. Newcastle should be wary of Bradley Dack and Danny Graham as the duo are capable of scoring multiple goals in matches.
Newcastle are often bounced out of tournaments by EFL Championship sides and that trend could continue tomorrow if Blackburn give maximum effort at St. James’ Park. A win against Newcastle could provide Blackburn with some confidence to try and get results in the EFL Championship. A win for Newcastle would please the fans, but it could serve as a double edged sword for the Magpies as they could pile on more distractions in a fragile time period.