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Proposed Newcastle United lineup for FA Cup replay vs. Rochdale

By Durim Halimi

NANJING, CHINA - JULY 17: Elias Sorensen #47 of Newcastle United controls the ball during the Premier League Asia Trophy 2019 fixture between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre on July 17, 2019 in Nanjing, China.(Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images for Premier League)
NANJING, CHINA - JULY 17: Elias Sorensen #47 of Newcastle United controls the ball during the Premier League Asia Trophy 2019 fixture between Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre on July 17, 2019 in Nanjing, China.(Photo by Fred Lee/Getty Images for Premier League) /
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Steve Bruce will be forced to make some changes to his lineup when Newcastle United host Rochdale at St. James’ Park for the FA Cup third round replay.

Newcastle United experienced yet another tale of two halves when they drew 1-1 with Rochdale on Saturday. Steve Bruce surprised everyone when he deployed a starting lineup solely comprised of first team players. On paper, the Magpies should have won this game by multiple goals. It looked as if that would be the case in the first half, but the Toon wasted several chances to seal the deal early on.

Yoshinori Muto was forced to leave the game after injuring his hip and Miguel Almiron joined him on the bench a few minutes later because of a groin injury. Joelinton was the Magpies’ worst player against Rochdale. The Brazilian had six chances to score and wasted them all, including a golden opportunity when he was one-on-one with the keeper.

The Longstaff brothers did well together in the middle of the park as they spread the ball around with ease and tested Rochdale’s keeper from distance. Based on their performances, both players deserve to start, but seeing that Jonjo Shelvey might still be out for the clash against Wolves it would not be a surprise to see Ki Sung-yueng start in order to rest one of the brothers.

Another midfielder who put in a solid shift was Matt Ritchie. The fan favorite made his return after his second ankle surgery and it looked like he did not miss a beat. Fans should expect to see Ritchie start again.

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Defensively, Newcastle United were sound for the majority of the game, but Isaac Hayden and Emil Krafth did look slightly uncomfortable playing out of position. I would expect Krafth to start again, but Bruce would be wise to rest Hayden for Saturday’s Premier League action. That being said, here is my lineup proposal for the cup replay:

Formation:

  • 4-4-2

Lineup:

  • GK: Karl Darlow
  • DEF: Emil Krafth, Federico Fernandez, Florian Lejeune, DeAndre Yedlin
  • MID: Matt Ritchie, Ki Sung-Yueng, Matty Longstaff, Christian Atsu
  • ATT: Elias Sorensen, Dwight Gayle