Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Newcastle United Preview: Magpies look to move clear of bottom three

Newcastle face a tough task against a Wolves side that are unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions. Daniel Ford previews. 

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Newcastle United Preview: Magpies look to move clear of bottom three
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Newcastle United take on Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday looking to avenge an unlucky defeat earlier in the season.

Wolves are seventh in the table and have the opportunity to make it four wins from four. Their last result was an emphatic 3-1 victory over against Everton.

For Newcastle, their last game saw them valiantly hold an under-strength Tottenham Hotspur only to conceded late on thanks to an error from the usually reliable Martin Dubravka, misjudging a dipping shot from Heung Min Son.

The Magpies have won two of their three last league games which has seen them move out of the bottom three.

What happened at St James?

In the reverse fixture, Matt Doherty scored a last-minute winner to claim all three points after Newcastle went down to ten men.

DeAndre Yedlin saw red for pulling back Diogo Jota in a game that saw Rafa Benitez very angry in his post-match comments pleading for VAR to be introduced.

Team News

Newcastle’s record signing Miguel Almiron is available to make his debut having obtained his visa earlier this week.

However, whether he will start or not is unclear, given he has not played since the MLS Cup final in early December.

Benitez received further good news this week with Ki Sung-Yueng, Mo Diame and Paul Dummett all back fit and in contention for a place in the squad. 

Nuno Espirito Santo has a fully fit squad to chose from and it is expected he will go with the same squad that beat Everton last week.

Since Leander Dendoncker has moved into midfield Wolves have looked a much more solid team, especially going forward.

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Key battles

Wolves have threats all over the pitch. Their top scorer is Raul Jiminez, the striker on loan from Benfica has eleven goals to his name so far this season. He and attacking midfielder Jota, the latter scoring in the reverse fixture can be expected to provide the main threat to the Magpies.

However, Newcastle’s midfield can also be alert to the ever-present threat of Ruben Neves. Newcastle’s midfield cannot allow him space and time on the ball, given his ability to shoot from outside the box, not to mention his passing ability.

Salomon Rondon has become arguably Newcastle's most important player and his aerial threat will be the Magpies' best chance of getting a positive result at Molineux.

The number nine will occupy the Wolves defenders all games and will threaten Rui Patricio's goal if he is given good enough service.

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The managers

Nuno Espirito Santo told Wolves' club media: “That is the only focus that we have. Back at Molineux on Monday against a tough team and we have to work very hard, improve things that we have to improve and back in Molineux with the support of our pack, we’ll try it.

“You can see by their last performances that Newcastle are very organised, very compact and with good players. Very good players. It’s going to be a very tough game and they’re going to demand a lot from us.”

Benitez told the Chronicle: "No [we are not thinking about revenge], just because we want to get three points."

"Obviously, we knew after the game, watching the replay, that everything was wrong and we didn’t deserve to lose the game."

"But we cannot change that. What we have to concentrate on now is this one. It is an opportunity for us because, for us, every game is a final."