Newcastle United bounced back from three consecutive defeats with a 1-0 victory over Brentford, thanks to Callum Wilson’s penalty in the last Premier League game played by the Magpies before kicking off their European adventure last Tuesday.

Back then, in the first game of the Champions League group stage, NUFC held AC Milan to a goalless draw that allowed the Magpies to wrap up MD1 of the UCL sitting in second place only behind French giants PSG.

The Magpies are back to roaming lesser grounds this weekend with a matchup against newly-promoted Sheffield United on the road at Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United’s quest for their inaugural Premier League win this season will continue this weekend, although they surely face long odds against a top-4 candidate in Newcastle.

Last week, Sheffield United seemed poised for victory against Tottenham Hotspur until a late turn of events resulted in a 2-1 defeat with a coming-from-behind, extra-time victory by the Spurs. Manager Paul Heckingbottom was irate with the officials, and we understand that because we’ve all been there.

Sheffield United hopes to break their winless streak, though they will have to do without Oli McBurnie who will be serving a suspension. The team also faces some injury challenges, including the absence of John Egan and George Baldock, who might return later this month.

For Newcastle, Joelinton and Joe Willock are sidelined, and goalkeeper Martin Dubravka could return after an illness though that’s not entirely clear—plus Nick Pope is simply going nowhere.

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

Lineup Notes

• Not Available: Willock (Achilles), Krafth (knee), Joelinton (knee)
• Doubtful: Dubravka (illness)

Talking Points

• After last Tuesday’s matchup against Milan, it’s fair to assume that Howe will bring back most of the lineup while rotating a few bodies to keep the lads fresh now that they’ve got into the thick of the schedule.
• Callum Wilson handed Eddie Howe his second three-point lot of the season in the Premier League when he scored from the penalty spot last weekend. Isak hasn’t dunked in a few games and with Sheff Utd not being quite the strongest of opponents this could be a nice match to use Wilson as a starter.
• The back five, including Nick Pope, shouldn’t feature any change if only because Steady Eddie would never allow that to happen. Again, this is the type of opponent that should at least give Newcastle some breathing room and Howe some reasonable chance at rotating more than usual, but he’s definitely not known for that and I don’t see it happening, let alone after NUFC’s shaky start to the season.
• The midfield will have to level up again with Joelinton missing his second consecutive game while nursing an ailing knee injury suffered through the last international break a couple of weeks ago.
• Bruno is probably not going to leave the pitch barring leg amputation, and the same goes for Sandro Tonali. The latter missed the game against Brentford after reappearing in his Milan homecoming getting subbed off by the 72nd minute. Expect these two in the XI with the most-probable appearance of Sean Longstaff next to them to give some balance to the team in the middle of the pitch. Elliot Anderson should get some minutes off the pine today against the lowly Sheff Utd.
• Miguel Almiron missed the XI against Milan in what surely must have been a bummer for him after returning tired and banged up from his international apps with Paraguay. He’s a lock to start today with Jacob Murphy getting back to the bench.
• I’m betting on Harvey Barnes starting in place of Anthony Gordon today just to keep the former active while keeping the latter on his toes a bit after he’s not been as great as he was to start the season. Barnes got 83 minutes against Brentford but didn’t log one against Milan in the Champions League, so he should be coming into this one a bit angry and trying to prove he deserves more.

CHN Predicted Lineup

GK Pope
DEF Trippier - Schar - Botman - Burn
MID Longstaff - Bruno - Tonali
WNG Almiron - Barnes
FWD Wilson

Newcastle XI

Sheffield Utd XI

• Date: Sunday, September 24th
• Kick-off: 16:30 BST / 11:30 EST
• Location: Bramall Lane, Sheffield (England)

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Howay the Lads!