Is it Time for Rafa Benitez to Start Both Mitrovic and Gayle?

Aleksandar Mitrovic has four goals in the last two matches while Dwight Gayle remains the league’s top goalscorer, and by a sizable margin. Newcastle United has the largest goal differential in the league, and the depth of the squad is unbelievable.

Something we haven’t gotten to see is Mitrovic start two games in a row. So watching him demolish Preston in the first match, and help the club take a demanding victory in the second match was something to behold. It also raises questions as to whether or not Mitrovic will be fighting for a starting spot.

As long as Dwight Gayle continues to score goals and lead the league in that department, there is no way that Benitez is going to make a change up front. But is it possible that he decides to put both strikers up front together?

It’d be a quality duo. One that could dominate the Championship and rise to the top of the Premier League. We haven’t gotten to see much chemistry between the two, and is it possible that Rafa Benitez is playing it safe?

Aleksandar Mitrovic is a goal monster. When he’s hungry for goals we even saw him beg Matt Ritchie to take a penalty that Benitez had already stated Ritchie was in a position to take. There are now rumors involving the relationship between the two.

Could something similar happen if Benitez were to start both Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dwight Gayle? That is a strong possibility. A Mitrovic/Gayle duo would be a dominant one, and while I believe that Gayle would welcome it, I think Mitrovic needs to mature a bit more still.

Right now, Benitez has proven that Newcastle United can succeed with or without Dwight Gayle, and the depth at the striker position is deep. And I think he’s going to want to keep it that way.

Come January, if the club adds another striker to bench along with Daryl Murphy, Benitez may look to move Mitrovic up alongside Dwight Gayle. But putting them together immediately could risk losing both of them if something were to happen.