Newcastle United may have a lot of distractions, but they’re on the field before their first FA Cup quarter-finals in 14 years.
You’ll welcome Pep Guardiola and his 2019 Premier League champion, Manchester City, later in the evening at St. James’ Park.
Who will advance to the semi-finals?
Newcastle
Man city
The magpies had to settle for part of the loot last time when Aston Villa drew 1-1, though that means Steve Bruce’s men have been unbeaten since returning earlier this month.
Will the 59-year-old make major changes? We predict the following …
There are some interesting decisions to make and we believe United could change the team with at least four changes.
Martin Dubravka keeps his place between the sticks, but the backline in front of him is created with Javier Manquillo and Federico Fernandez from the starting XI.
DeAndre Yedlin, who has pushed for a place in the past few weeks, and Fabian Schar are coming. The £ 11.7m defender had been Bruce’s first choice before the suspension so he could start again tonight.
Both Isaac Hayden and Jonjo Shelvey remain in the engine room as their partnership has flourished in the last two games. This means that Sean Longstaff may have to wait after he has just returned from an injury.
It’s similar on the wings, with Allan Saint-Maximin on the left and Matt Ritchie on the right.
The last two changes are under attack.
Joelinton and Miguel Almiron fall against Villa after two below-average performances. Instead, Bruce could choose the groundbreaking duo of Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle, who certainly deserved a start after their weekend crash.
Both joined for their only goal of the game – within a minute after the latter was also on the field.
