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Newcastle’s best possible lineup against Norwich City

By Durim Halimi

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 03: Allan Saint-Maximin of Newcastle United is seen in action during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Newcastle United and AS Saint - Etienne at St. James Park on August 03, 2019 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - AUGUST 03: Allan Saint-Maximin of Newcastle United is seen in action during the Pre-Season Friendly match between Newcastle United and AS Saint - Etienne at St. James Park on August 03, 2019 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images) /
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Newcastle United will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Premier League newcomers Norwich City.

After starting the 2019-20 Premier League campaign with a 1-0 loss against Arsenal, Newcastle United will look to claim all three points on the road this weekend against Norwich City. On paper, the Magpies are the superior side, however, the Premier League newcomers will be tricky opponents in their home opener. In fact, it seems that statisticians really take the atmosphere into account because FiveThirtyEight claims that Norwich City’s odds of winning are at 39% and Google stats are giving the home team a 43% chance of beating the Toon.

Newcastle United have struggled against newly-promoted sides on the road early in the season over the last two campaigns. In 2017, the Magpies were beaten by Huddersfield Town on the road in the second of week of the season, and last term the Toon drew 0-0 away at Cardiff City in the second game of the season. Steve Bruce will hope to break this negative trend on Saturday, but in order to do so he needs to deploy his strongest possible lineup to get all three points before going up against Tottenham (A), Watford (H) and Liverpool (A).

Best Possible Lineup for Newcastle United

Daniel Farke rarely sets him team up in a formation other than 4-2-3-1, so Steve Bruce should stick with his 3-5-2 formation to make spacing an issue for Norwich City, especially when their full-backs are sent forward. Keeping things tight would only enable the Canaries to run through narrow lanes which would be closed down rather quickly by the Magpies. For the most part, it worked well against Arsenal.

Based on how the team played last weekend against Arsenal, Bruce should keep the same players in the lineup except for Javier Manquillo and maybe Paul Dummett. Allan Saint-Maximin will most likely take over out wide for Manquillo this weekend. The Frenchman is already a fan favorite on Tyneside and his dynamic playing style, along with his pace, will cause problems for Norwich City’s vulnerable defense. Moreover, Saint-Maximin would constantly look to set up big plays for Joelinton and Almiron up top. With Saint-Maximin on the wing, my expectation is that Joelinton will have a major impact at Carrow Road.

Related Story. Historical overview of Newcastle vs. Norwich City. light

Except for his horrible pass which led to Arsenal’s easy goal last weekend, Dummett put in a decent shift. It would not be a surprise to see Dummett start alongside Jamaal Lascelles and Fabian Schar once again, but Emil Krafth would be a solid option to replace him and he is eager to make his Premier League debut after arriving from France. The new signing needs to earn a start at some point and what better time than against a team that just came up from the EFL Championship.

That being said, this should be Newcastle United’s starting lineup against Norwich City:

GK: Dubravka

DEF: Schar, Lascelles, Krafth

MID: Saint-Maximin, Hayden, Shelvey, Longstaff, Ritchie

ATT: Joelinton, Almiron