Newcastle United will face off against Brentford at St James’ Park as the Magpies will look to end their three-game losing streak just a few days from their Champions League debut in Milan next Tuesday.

Newcastle and manager Eddie Howe are in desperate need of a win after suffering three consecutive defeats against Manchester City, Liverpool, and Brighton following the 5-1 trouncing of Aston Villa in the season opener.

The Magpies’ defensive woes are evident as they have managed only one clean sheet in their last 15 Premier League matches getting back to last season. Howe’s side could be without key players like Sandro Tonali and Sven Botman with the two internationals having missed games of late and facing fitness issues for Saturday’s outing.

Elliot Anderson is also uncertain for the match, which might mean Sean Longstaff find his way back to making the starting XI, same summer-signing Lewis Hall if Botman cannot play and Matt Targett is relegated to the bench by Howe.

Brentford, currently navigating a much better start with four undefeated games in the first four matchdays of the Premier League season, arrives at St. James’ Park following a 2-2 draw against Bournemouth at the start of September.

In Ivan Toney’s absence because of his gambling suspension, Bryan Mbeumo has stepped up to the plate massively and he’s become a standout performer scoring seven goals in his last seven games.

Despite Brentford’s impressive start, they haven’t defeated Newcastle in their last four Premier League matchups. In fact, Brentford has not defeated NUFC at St. James’ Park since 1934! Let’s make it 89 years in a row, please.

You can read everything Howe had to say here, as part of our pre-match coverage.

Probable Lineups

The Guardian prediction at the upcoming Starting XIs from the Magpies and the Bees are in, so let’s go through what could be coming from Newcastle’s Eddie Howe.

Lineup Notes

• Not Available: Willock (Achilles), Krafth (knee), Manquillo (groin)
• Doubtful: Tonali (thigh), Botman (ankle), Anderson (knock), Murphy (knock)

Talking Points

• It’s all bad news coming off the international break, folks.
• Sandro Tonali missed the last game played by Italy’s senior squad and with a homecoming on Tuesday, it’s fair to assume he will miss Saturday’s matchup. That means the door has been blown open for Sean Longstaff to get into the starting XI.
• Bruno and Joelinton are also seemingly a bit banged up and if not that, at least hella tired after playing basically everything since the start of the season at the start of August. Could Joelinton also get some rest, making a way toward starting for Lewis Hall in the Magpies midfield?
• Joe Willock was nursing a hamstring injury before the break, but Howe revealed that he’s now suffered an Achilles injury. No reports about the injury being an actual torn Achilles, which would rule Willock out for the season, but expect the young lad to miss many games before he can be back at 100% capacity on the field.
• Finally, Sven Botman trained during the week at Newcastle according to Howe (he wasn’t called up for international duty with the Netherlands) and he might return this weekend. However, with a much more important Champions League game midweek, Howe might decide not to risk a setback and ultimately sit him against Brentford.
• If Botman doesn’t play, the logical move would be to use Dan Burn in the center of the defense with one of Matt Targett or Lewis Hall on the left side of the d-line. This could be a good game for Hall to make his debut, considering Brentford isn’t the strongest of opponents all things considered.
• Miguel Almiron has played in all games he’s been eligible to since the start of August including four Premier League games and two CONMEBOL international qualifiers during the past week. It might be time to give the man some rest ahead of Tuesday’s UCL opener.
• With Miggy probably out, the two realistic options would be Jacob Murphy and Harvey Barnes/Anthony Gordon deployed on the right wing. That might be a bit too much with Gordon excelling on the left and Barnes a natural left-sider. Murphy has a very strong case to start on Saturday.
• Gordon should be a lock on the left considering his early-season form, and Alexander Isak is the best option up front to lead the Magpies as the lone striker. Yes, Callum Wilson was relatively good in a bench cameo against Brighton, but he should stay on the bench and should keep playing the super-sub role going forward.

CHN Predicted Lineup

GK Pope
DEF Trippier - Schar - Burn - Hall
MID Longstaff - Bruno - Joelinton
WNG Murphy - Gordon
FWD Isak

Newcastle XI

Brentford XI

• Date: Saturday, September 16th
• Kick-off: 17:30 BST / 12:30 EST
• Location: St. James’ Park, Newcastle (England)

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Howay the Lads!