Having defied expectations during a magnificent week of Premier League and EFL Cup football, Newcastle United will look to prolong the feel-good factor when Burnley visit St James’ Park on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams booked a place in the fourth round of the EFL Cup in midweek, as the Magpies stunned Manchester City 1-0, while the Clarets put four past Salford City without reply.
Match preview
The 2022-23 EFL Cup final ended in tears for Newcastle United, who were forced to watch Manchester United lift the trophy aloft at Wembley, but a shot at revenge could soon be on the menu following a breathtaking third-round win over the tournament’s perennial champions.
Both Eddie Howe and Pep Guardiola unsurprisingly rang the changes on Wednesday night amid their teams’ Premier League and Champions League commitments, but in the eighth minute of the second half, Alexander Isak crashed home the decisive goal in front of a particularly fervent home crowd.
Newcastle’s reward for knocking out the treble winners will be a repeat of last year’s showpiece match against Man United in the fourth round, and in the wake of a sticky start to the campaign, the Magpies are looking more like their old selves and broke multiple records in an 8-0 shellacking of Sheffield United last weekend.
Newcastle’s biggest-ever away league win and joint-biggest Premier League victory also saw eight different goalscorers find the back of the net – the most in an English top-flight match since 1992 – and Howe’s in-form troops have risen to eighth in the table amid their four-game unbeaten streak.
A creditable goalless draw away to AC Milan in the Champions League is also included in that stellar sequence, and a fifth successive clean sheet this weekend would be just what the doctor ordered for Newcastle before Kylian Mbappe‘s Paris Saint-Germain visit St James’ Park next week.
Burnley’s chances of recording as emphatic a Premier League win as Newcastle’s eight-goal demolition of Sheffield United are fanciful, but Vincent Kompany‘s side at least managed to outgun the Magpies on the goalscoring front in midweek, strolling past Salford City to advance to EFL Cup round four.
Sander Berge, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Dara O’Shea put the game to bed before the half-hour mark, and Wilson Odobert got in on the act in the closing stages on a terrific night for Anass Zaroury, who set up three of the Clarets’ four goals at the Peninsula Stadium.
An all-Premier League tie with Everton is now on Burnley’s agenda for the fourth round, but EFL Cup triumphs only come as some consolation to their dreadful Premier League start, as the Clarets have taken just one point from 18 on offer and are only above Sheffield United in the table thanks to Newcastle’s eight-goal thumping of the Blades.
Kompany’s side gave a good account of themselves against Manchester United last weekend, but they were undone by a sensational Bruno Fernandes volley in a 1-0 defeat, and both of their fixtures with Newcastle in the 2021-22 Premier League season ended in defeat.
However, while Burnley cannot buy a point at Turf Moor right now, they remain unbeaten on the road this season and have not lost on rival turf since a 6-0 FA Cup mauling at the hands of Man City six months ago; Kompany’s side could do with taking a leaf out of Newcastle’s book this weekend ahead of future showdowns with the treble winners.
Team News
Just before the Bramall Lane rout began, Newcastle winger Harvey Barnes was cruelly forced off with a “substantial” foot injury, and Howe has confirmed that the Englishman is facing around three months on the sidelines.
Fellow long-term absentees Joe Willock (Achilles) and Emil Krafth (knee) will keep Barnes company in the treatment room for the time being, while Paul Dummett was forced off towards the end of Wednesday’s win over Man City but would have been expected to drop out of the side either way.
Taking Dummett’s place should be Dan Burn, who is expected to recover from illness in time for the weekend, while Callum Wilson (hamstring), Sven Botman (knee), Alexander Isak (calf) and Bruno Guimaraes (ankle) will all face late fitness tests.
While Howe may be tempted to reward Wednesday’s starters with a Premier League run-out, the Magpies boss should recall the likes of Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Anthony Gordon and Miguel Almiron to the XI, demoting youngsters Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento to the bench in the process.
Speaking of attackers being substituted with first-half injuries, Kompany lost Benson Manuel to a “serious knokc” on Tuesday night, and the 26-year-old’s problem should render him unavailable this weekend.
Hjalmar Ekdal (knee), Darko Churlinov (blood poisoning), Michael Obafemi (hamstring), Nathan Redmond (unspecified) and Lyle Foster (suspended) are also on the visitors’ absentee list, while Johann Berg Gudmundsson came off early against Man United with calf trouble and will need a once-over ahead of Saturday.
Having come up with three assists against Salford City, Zaroury may have played his way back into Kompany’s Premier League starting XI, where Zeki Amdouni and Luca Koleosho should join him in a rejigged front three.
Newcastle United possible starting lineup:
Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Anderson; Almiron, Wilson, Gordon
Burnley possible starting lineup:
Trafford; Roberts, Al-Dakhil, Beyer, Taylor; Cullen, Brownhill; Koleosho, Ramsey, Zaroury; Amdouni
We say: Newcastle United 3-0 Burnley
Burnley may have had an extra day to recover from their successful EFL Cup exertions, and the Clarets’ recent run of road results is admirable, but their resistance ought to be swiftly broken at St James’ Park.
Scintillating attacking showings akin to their Sheffield United drubbing have been hard to come by for Newcastle on a consistent basis this term, but Howe’s men have rediscovered their defensive guile and should not have to jump through too many hoops to put another three points on the board this weekend.
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