Newcastle face Chelsea at St James’ Park on Saturday at 5:30 pm live on Sky Sports.
After making eight changes to the starting line-up midweek against Crystal Palace in the cup, Eddie Howe will likely return to a full-strength team to try to end the first half of the season on a high.
There’s a suggestion that Callum Wilson may not be fit enough to make it having been left out of the squad completely on Wednesday. Howe confirmed in his media briefing this morning that he’s been training away from the first team this week while he recovers from illness and it will be a late call to see if he makes it. Hopefully, that’s just a bit of gamesmanship from Howe, but we’ll see.
Should Callum Wilson Play?
Let him rest ahead of the WC
If he's fit, he plays.
By all accounts, Saint-Maximin didn’t have the best of times against Crystal Palace with the highlights showing a couple of times where his first touch really let him down, but if he’s fit enough to start, I think Howe will give him another shot.
I was torn between Sean Longstaff and Joe Willock to complete the midfield trio and went with Willock as his confidence should be high after finally finding the back of the net against Southampton. Bruno was devastated after his penalty miss against Palace, so he will be out to prove a point on Saturday I reckon, which can only be good news for us and terrifying news for Chelsea.
Obviously the back five pretty much picks itself these days. You don’t mess with perfection.