by Eddie Howe reflects on what changes he needs to make for Newcastle United’s second game against Chelsea this week.
Newcastle were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea on Sunday as the Blues triumphed in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge.
Now the venue and competition are changing as St James’ Park prepares to host the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.
The Magpies face Chelsea again and Enzo Maresca is likely to make plenty of changes. He has that luxury as his first team squad is absolutely huge. For example, he made 10 changes to the team that beat Panathinaikos, with Pedro Neto being the only player to keep his place against Newcastle.
Eddie Howe would also like to make so many changes, but that’s only possible if you have real depth.
The Newcastle United manager is not blessed with that and he told BBC Match Of The Day that he may not be able to make as many changes as he would like on Wednesday night.
“We probably won’t be able to make as many as we would like,” he said.
“We will try to make the right decisions for both games. We want to try to get as far as possible.”
Midfield changes are most likely due to Newcastle’s Carabao Cup tie
If Howe had a fully operational squad he would be able to rotate his team for the very important cup game against Chelsea.
However, he is missing several players, while the clash with the Blues is even more important given Newcastle’s recent form.
Howe absolutely needs to field a strong team while also giving some fringe players a chance to start.
With this in mind, the most likely changes will be in midfield. Joe Willock and Sean Longstaff were both on the bench on Sunday and are sure to start in the Carabao Cup.
Howe could also be forced to keep Alexander Isak on the team. That’s because Callum Wilson is out through injury, while it remains to be seen whether Will Osula will be trusted to start against a team as good as Chelsea.
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