Proposed Newcastle United lineup vs. Oxford United: Almiron and Saint-Maximin start

A win over Oxford United on Saturday would see Newcastle United advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

After eliminating Rochdale in the third round of the FA Cup, Newcastle United are now ready to host Oxford United at St. James’ Park on Saturday. This is a precious game for the fans seeing that a win would send the Magpies into the Final 16 of the tournament, which is something they have not achieved since the 2014/15 campaign. In fact, Newcastle United have only advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup three times since 2001.

The club announced that 42,000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday’s clash, so it is quite obvious that the Toon Army will do whatever they can in the stands to ensure their team gets the job done against an inferior opponent. Newcastle United played two games over the course of four days, so players will be tired and injuries could become a problem again.

Players like Martin Dubravka, Federico Fernandez and Isaac Hayden deserve some rest after performing well in some tough games recently. Risking these three players ahead of some favorable Premier League games in February would be a mistake. New signing Nabil Bentaleb could be available for action, but he needs more time on the training ground to become familiar with the tactics and his teammates’ style of play. It would not be a surprise to see Bentaleb make a second half appearance, though.

Christian Atsu is looking for more game time, but his inconsistency is a problem. The Magpies cannot afford to make too many mistakes in the final third, so instead of groaning over Atsu’s indecisiveness near goal, Steve Bruce should give youngster Tom Allan a chance. The academy player impressed against Rochdale and is capable of performing against yet another League One outfit.

Allan Saint-Maximin was rested against Everton and he should be a starter against Oxford United, as should Miguel Almiron. With the dynamic duo in the starting lineup, Newcastle United’s odds of scoring multiple goals in the first half to seal the deal are quite high. Joelinton should join them on the front-line.

Bruce stated that the Brazilian was tired and sore against Everton, but it is games like these, against inferior opponents, where a player can build their confidence by scoring some goals. All that being said, here is my proposed formation and lineup for Saturday’s game against Oxford United:

Formation

• 3-4-3

Lineup

• GK: Karl Darlow
• DEF: Florian Lejeune, Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar
• MID: Matt Ritchie, Matty Longstaff, Jonjo Shelvey, Tom Allan
• ATT: Allan Saint-Maximin, Joelinton, Miguel Almiron