Newcastle United travel to Germany on Wednesday to face Bayer Leverkusen in their final Champions League league-phase match, with both teams pushing for a top-eight finish to secure automatic progression
to the last 16.
Leverkusen enter the game in 17th place on eight points, two behind eighth-placed Sporting Lisbon, while Newcastle sit 11th with nine.
The hosts beat Manchester City 2-0 in their last European outing but lost 2-0 to Augsburg at the weekend in the Bundesliga, their first game without scoring in seven matchups.
Kasper Hjulmand’s side have been strong at home, winning three of their last five matches at the BayArena and netting 28 goals across their 13 Bundesliga fixtures this season.
Newcastle, meanwhile, lost 2-1 to Marseille their last time out in the Champions League after taking an early lead through Harvey Barnes, and their inconsistent Premier League form has them struggling in mid-table with a mediocre 22 points.
Eddie Howe’s Magpies have alternated between wins and losses in recent weeks but showed signs of improvement with a 4-1 victory over Everton on November 29. Despite that, their away struggles continue, with just one win in their last nine games on the road.
Nick Pope will remain sidelined, meaning Aaron Ramsdale will start in the Magpies’ net behind Fabian Schar and Malick Thiaw. Bruno Guimaraes is expected to anchor the midfield alongside Sandro Tonali and Joelinton, with wingers Anthony Gordon and Anthony Elanga in contention to flank Nick Woltemade up front, and Yoane Wissa as the no. 1 player set to come off the pine midweek.
Here are some of Howe’s Wisdom Nuggets, courtesy of NUFC.co.uk
On Bayer Leverkusen…
“Leverkusen are an outstanding football team, true to their identity.
“It will be another test of how far we have come and how far we have to go.”
On team selection, with the Tyne-Wear derby to follow on Sunday…
“I think we will pick a team that will be strong tomorrow and strong on Sunday.
“We have a few injuries to our backline which has been the case for a few games now.
“We don’t necessarily have the depth at the moment, but we come here with a strong squad and we are ready for both games this week.”
On Yoane Wissa, who made his Magpies debut in the win over Burnley on Saturday…
“He looks positive, body language is very good. He’s been boosted by coming on the pitch and he’s ready to take on minutes.
“The challenge we have now is limited training times between games, which we have to get right.
“He showed the qualities he had in those twenty minutes, and he will only get better.”
On the big week ahead…
“It has been an intense week. We finished the game on Saturday, and immediately prepare for the next one.
“We are having to cram a lot of work into a short period of time. We are excited by this one and looking forward to the challenge. It’s a tough game for us.”
- Date: Wednesday, November 25th
- Kick-off: 20:00 BST / 15:00 EST
- Location: BayArena, Leverkusen (Germany)
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