Newcastle United take on Brighton & Hove Albion at the American Express Community Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 2, with both teams eager to bounce back from their MD3 respective losses at the hands of Liverpool and West Ham respectively.

After dropping last weekend’s game to David Moyes’ mob, Brighton will try to avoid suffering consecutive league losses for the first time since October (!) last year, though the Seagulls have not defeated NUFC in their last four meetings.

Newcastle—you already know about this—endured a heartbreaking 2-1, come-from-behind loss to 10-man Liverpool. Eddie Howe is in a very perilous situation and in the need of a very quick rebound if he doesn’t want to lose the team, and most prominently, his job as the manager of Newcastle less than two years into it.

Winning against Brighton on the road, where Newcastle haven’t won in six Premier League visits and have struggled away from home, is far from a given.

Brighton won’t have Julio Enciso and Jakub Moder available due to injuries, while Tariq Lamptey is doubtful. It’s still unknown if Ansu Fati will make his debut, but he is already with the club following his loan from Barcelona for the season.

Newcastle won’t be able to count on Joe Willock and Emil Krafth, and Sven Botman is also expected to miss this clash. Jamaal Lascelles is doubtful due to a police investigation involving an altercation taking place in Newcastle’s city center a few days ago in which the defender was attacked. Javier Manquillo has returned to training but he’s a long shot to play, even from the bench.

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 Seagulls is in, so let’s go through what could be coming from Newcastle’s Eddie Howe.

Lineup Notes

• Not Available: Willock (hamstring), Krafth (knee), Botman (knee)
• Doubtful: Botman (ankle), Joelinton (knee), Manquillo (groin)

Talking Points

• Too much talk about Steady Eddie’s substitutions in the game against Liverpool, isn’t it? Well, it made and makes sense to bash the man in charge because of that.
• I’m not going to dwell on it anymore, though, because we’re past that and it’s time to move forward and get things right before the first international break: first order of business, beating Brighton on the road.
• The lineup is going to change a bit if only because current maladies affecting this and that player are going to force Howe into making some changes to his XI... or not. Remember, it’s Howe we’re talking about here, so if his favorites can stay up on half a leg, they’re most probably going to be thrown into the fire today.
• Case in point: Joelinton and Sven Botman, both subbed off late against Liverpool last weekend. I don’t think it’s reasonable to risk a setback in any of the two cases, let alone when it comes to Joelinton and the absolute batch of options ready to use by the coach in the midfield.
• It’s a day for Sean Longstaff to return to the XI, and as much as it’ll pain to watch a defensive back-four not featuring Botman, it’s not that Dan Burn cannot cope with that role while opening the left blank for once-great-cheap-transfer-and-nice-lad Matt Targett.
• Questions might pop up front, too. Anthony Gordon has been sublime of late and seems to be carrying his summer breakout with the England underage team into the season and simply staying there. He’s made himself into a lock for steady starts on the left flank even after the signing of Harvey Barnes this summer.
• Could Barnes’ availability and smell for the goal make Howe think about removing Miguel Almiron from the XI if only for a quick test today? I don’t see it happening, but there is a reasonable argument and discussion to have there.
• No news at the no. 9 position with Alexander Isak flying and gearing up to destroy his former side BVB in the Champions League. Oh, boy.

CHN Predicted Lineup

GK Pope
DEF Trippier - Schar - Burn - Targett
MID Tonali - Bruno - Longstaff
WNG Almiron - Gordon
FWD Isak

Newcastle XI

Brighton XI

• Date: Saturday, September 2nd
• Kick-off: 17:30 BST / 12:30 EST
• Location: AMEX Stadium, Brighton (England)

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Howay the Lads!