Newcastle United vs Aston Villa pre-match analysis: Steve Bruce likely to rest players ahead of FA Cup game against Manchester City

Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce is likely to rest players against Aston Villa ahead of an FA Cup quarter-final clash with Manchester City.

The Magpies virtually sealed Premier League survival at the weekend, after a convincing 3-0 win over 10-man Sheffield United.

The victory on Sunday will have sparked delight into the United camp, as it means that they can put an added focus into the FA Cup with a Premier League relegation fight seemingly no longer on the agenda.

Bruce will want revenge

Although it seems that Newcastle will rest players, Magpies manager Bruce will certainly want one over the side he managed for just under two years.

Steve Bruce's time at Aston Villa deteriorated quickly after the club lost the 2018 Championship play-off final to the hands of Fulham.

Bruce was sacked in October 2018, the game after a supporter appeared to have thrown a cabbage at him, in a bizarre 3-3 draw against Preston North End.

In Bruce's first game back at Villa Park since his dismissal, his Newcastle side was beaten 2-0, with goals coming from Conor Hourihane and Anwar El-Ghazi.

Without scoring that night, midfielder Jack Grealish ran the show for Villa and is undoubtedly their best player.

Bruce knows if he can stop Grealish in his tracks, he has a good chance of picking up a third consecutive league victory.

Who can stop Grealish?

It will be the duty of Newcastle's holding midfielders, particularly Isaac Hayden, who had an outstanding performance against Sheffield United last time out.

Hayden dominated the midfield for the Magpies, with two key interceptions and boasting an impressive 86% pass accuracy.

The former Arsenal man only gave away one foul on Sunday, which is the type of discipline that is needed, especially coming up against someone as dangerous as Jack Grealish.

If Grealish starts in the left-wing position, as he did in the reverse fixture, it will be up to Javier Manquillo to keep him quiet.

It was fellow full-back DeAndre Yedlin who played in that match but was ran ragged by Grealish.

The American fouled Grealish to give Villa a free-kick which they converted just 32 minutes into the game.

Manquillo has made the right-back position his own in the latter stages of the season and has surprised the supporters with his recent form.

Dirty tricks

In Aston Villa's previous game, a 2-1 defeat at home to Chelsea, Jack Grealish set a new Premier League record on Sunday as he became the most fouled player in a single game, with nine committed against him.

Jack Grealish was fouled NINE times against Chelsea, the most fouls on a single player in a Premier League game this season.

Targeted and thwarted. pic.twitter.com/2FcTWfAm2J
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 21, 2020

Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante committed five fouls in that game, an onus on what manager Frank Lampard will have said to him, to stop the in-form Villa star from dictating the play.

Newcastle will probably look to adopt a similar style to stop Grealish, a one which will certainly frustrate the Aston Villa player.

Tactical tinkering on the cards

In Newcastle's 2-0 away defeat earlier on in the season, they went with a 5-4-1 formation which had a lack of efficient attacking intent.

It caused Villa to overrun the midfield with their narrow 4-3-3 formation which was seemingly too much for Jonjo Shelvey and Isaac Hayden to cope with, as they were expected to perform in offensive and defensive roles.

Steve Bruce has reverted most recently to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which has delivered back-to-back Premier League victories.

This particular formation is likely to rear its head in this match, as it has two defensive midfielders to cope with the attacking prowess of John McGinn and Jack Grealish.

It also gives a free attacking reign to Allan Saint-Maximin, who was in fine form on Sunday, opening the scoring at St James' Park.

How Newcastle may line-up

Danny Rose is expected to keep his place in the starting XI, with the idea that the unregistered Paul Dummett will play against Manchester City.

Federico Fernandez may be swapped out for Fabian Schar in centre-back, in a bid to keep key players fresh for the FA Cup game.

Steve Bruce may look to start Nabil Bentaleb in this fixture over Jonjo Shelvey, due to his more defensive-minded approach to the game and with Sunday's big game around the corner.

Valentino Lazaro may get the nod ahead of Matt Ritchie, regardless of the Scottish international putting in a man of the match performance against Sheffield United.

Ritchie was an injury doubt prior to Sunday, so he is likely to be used off the bench here.

Andy Carroll could start over of Joelinton, to counterbalance the physical and aerial threat of Aston Villa.