da bet sport： Newcastle United visit relegation rivals West Bromwich Albion on Sunday to hand Steve Bruce his first test without his favoured front three of Callum Wilson, Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin.
da casino： Almiron and Saint-Maximin joined Wilson in the Magpies’ treatment room following last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, having sustained knee and groin injuries respectively, while their 10-goal top scorer remains sidelined with a deep hamstring tear.
The Toon trio’s absences will deprive Bruce of his most lethal and creative options, with only Wilson scoring more often in the Premier League this season than Almiron and his four goals, while providing more assists (five) than Saint-Maximin’s three.
Bruce also faces injury concerns elsewhere in his ranks. With that in mind, here’s a potential line-up which the Magpies could field at The Hawthorns, which shows four changes from the starting XI against Wolves…
Dwight Gayle and Joelinton have both been given opportunities to prove themselves as Wilson’s replacement, with the London-born attacker starting against Chelsea and the £40m club-record signing featuring against Manchester United and Wolves.
Neither scored over those outings but will be expected to feature alongside each other for the first time since December’s 2-1 win over West Brom, when Gayle came off the bench to strike the winning effort during a 21-minute cameo beside the Brazilian.
The Baggies’ visit to St James’ Park was the only Premier League fixture thus far this season to see both strikers on the pitch at the same time, with £40,000-per-week Gayle coming on as a direct replacement for Joelinton against Leeds United and Fulham in December. Joelinton also replaced Gayle at Stamford Bridge last month.
Summer signing Ryan Fraser will be expected to occupy the attacking midfield role now vacated by Almiron, having been the one to take over from the Paraguayan at half-time against Wolves last weekend.
The 1-1 draw marked Fraser’s 15th Premier League outing of the campaign to date and returned only his third assist in black and white, having been the most creative player on the pitch throughout the second half with three key passes, per WhoScored.
Only Saint-Maximin (4) and Wolves’ Adama Traore (4) offered more key passes across the full 90 minutes than £42k-a-week Fraser provided in just the second period.
Jacob Murphy may have hoped to be afforded his first top-flight start since January by replacing one of Saint-Maximin or Almiron in the Newcastle attack, but will likely be required to occupy a right-back spot against West Brom.
Bruce is at risk of being without a recognised full-back due to Emil Krafth sustaining a “nasty” shin injury during the 1-1 Wolves draw, while Javier Manquillo is still working on his fitness after sustaining an ankle injury against Southampton last month.
The Toon have been given a boost with Federico Fernandez expected to be fit after nine games on the sidelines across all competitions, which could see the Argentine replace Ciaran Clark after Jamaal Lascelles appeared a man reborn after scoring his team’s sole goal against Wolves last week.
AND in other news, some Newcastle players want a “very good organiser” lauded by those he’s worked with to replace Steve Bruce…