Newcastle away Monday 25th Aug 8pm

[SB]

Fired up Geordie fans in Newcastle at 8pm , what could possibly go wrong. Here’s hoping we put them to the sword & defend like our lives depend on it.

Gravenberch has to come back in to this but who misses out? Dom? That’s probably the only question mark for selections I can think of.

[Scratch]

Fired up Geordie fans in Newcastle at 8pm , what could possibly go wrong. Here’s hoping we put them to the sword & defend like our lives depend on it.

Gravenberch has to come back in to this but who misses out? Dom? That’s probably the only question mark for selections I can think of.

Macca will probably start on the bench, he's still not fully fit and had a short pre-season. The rest of the team will most likely be as it was.

[peterbread]

I was thinking if this is one of the games where we use the versatility of some players.

Maybe have the old three in Gravenberch, Alexis and Dom in midfield. Wirtz starting on the left but drifting in leaving space for Kerkez ahead. Having that midfield three you know you have more muscle against Newcastles midfield and cover for the attacking fullbacks.

[BigChief]

I was thinking if this is one of the games where we use the versatility of some players.

Maybe have the old three in Gravenberch, Alexis and Dom in midfield. Wirtz starting on the left but drifting in leaving space for Kerkez ahead. Having that midfield three you know you have more muscle against Newcastles midfield and cover for the attacking fullbacks.

Or we start Wirtz from the bench. It is a new league for him after all and we need him for the bus parkers.

[labourRed]

I was thinking if this is one of the games where we use the versatility of some players.

Maybe have the old three in Gravenberch, Alexis and Dom in midfield. Wirtz starting on the left but drifting in leaving space for Kerkez ahead. Having that midfield three you know you have more muscle against Newcastles midfield and cover for the attacking fullbacks.

I'd very much like to see this. I think it'll be our first eleven against the trickier fixtures anyway.

[vlahka]

Two 4:30am games in a row! My joy is indescribable!

[RedReet]

I'd be absolutely shocked if Gakpo doesn't start LW and fully expect Wirtz to play the position he was signed for. Only decision for me is Mac or Szobo in the no. 8.

[The_weatherman]

I was thinking if this is one of the games where we use the versatility of some players.

Maybe have the old three in Gravenberch, Alexis and Dom in midfield. Wirtz starting on the left but drifting in leaving space for Kerkez ahead. Having that midfield three you know you have more muscle against Newcastles midfield and cover for the attacking fullbacks.

Agree with this, we'd still have Gakpo, Chiesa and Jones available off the bench as well. Might opt for Robbo over Kerkez too.

[Irishnev]

I was thinking if this is one of the games where we use the versatility of some players.

Maybe have the old three in Gravenberch, Alexis and Dom in midfield. Wirtz starting on the left but drifting in leaving space for Kerkez ahead. Having that midfield three you know you have more muscle against Newcastles midfield and cover for the attacking fullbacks.

That’s what I’d do their midfield is their strength as well as set pieces with Burn! Try to match up physically and don’t give Gordon soft free kicks. A strong ref is needed but not expecting anything from that, they’ll roll out Tierney no doubt!

[danperkins]

Newcastle have a solid defence, extremely workmanlike midfield & pace right across the front line, it's a real test going there in the evening game too & then add in the whole Isak ****e which will absolutely be a factor with their fans. They will be able to counter very similar to Palace imo, lads combative in the midfield and balls through the channels to the pacey guys. Frimpong was caught out a few times & Kerkez had a shocker. Having Grav back is great & hopefully Mac is a bit fitter as he looked way off the pace. It's an interesting game for Wirtz who struggled against that Palace pressure & imo was holding onto the ball that second too long vs that Newcastle midfield who are going to lets be honest, kick lumps out of us.

[BigChief]

Being an (tough) away game I think Slot goes with:

Back five
Szob Grav Mac
Salah Ek Gak

[Mark79]

Macca will probably start on the bench, he's still not fully fit and had a short pre-season. The rest of the team will most likely be as it was.

Mac Allister started vs Bournemouth. He can start another game 10 days later.

May need another planned sub around 70m mins though.

[peterbread]

I'd be absolutely shocked if Gakpo doesn't start LW and fully expect Wirtz to play the position he was signed for. Only decision for me is Mac or Szobo in the no. 8.

Slot has said Wirtz can play on the left, false 9 and as a 10. I’m sure he’ll mainly play as a 10 but if the manager talks about his versatility and covering other roles then in certain situations he’ll utilise that.

[RedReet]

Slot has said Wirtz can play on the left, false 9 and as a 10. I’m sure he’ll mainly play as a 10 but if the manager talks about his versatility and covering other roles then in certain situations he’ll utilise that.

I'm sure we will at some stage as well but I'm not convinced it will be any time soon. If we seen the same interview, he almost nentioned Wirtz as afterthought playing LW. I could be wrong, but I remember seeing Wirtz AM, false 9, part of double 10's up front, but never LW during preseason (or actual games). Slot has brought him in with an idea in mind and so far, he hasn't had all his other first choice midfielders available to support him, so I think he'll been keen to see how that works.

I also think he's developing an excellent understanding with Ekitike, so I'd been keen to nurture that relationship.

Finally, one of the main reasons I didn't agree with those in preseason saying LW would be his main position is I just didn't think we would have bought him to replace Gakpo. Apart from the goal, I noticed Gakpo won the 2nd highest number of duals in the PL at the weekend and topped all the statistical based performance rating charts I seen. So while I can absolutely see the logic in going with our tried and trusted midfield 3 against Newcastle, I don't necessarily agree dropping Gakpo is the answer and I also don't believe having Wirtz play AM is having as big an impact on our current vulnerability, as some would have you believe.

[Scratch]

Mac Allister started vs Bournemouth. He can start another game 10 days later.

May need another planned sub around 70m mins though.

He started out of necessity. If Grav was available, he would have been the bench man, and coming on for a 30 min runout.

It might be that with a weeks training he is ready for the full 90 if required, but with Ryan being a first pick, one of him, Dom and Flo will be dropped, so Imy guess is it will be Macca due to a lack of pre-season and match sharpness.