Newcastle vs Manchester United
Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is likely to draft a quartet of big names back into his starting line-up. Defender Davide Santon, midfielders Jonas Gutierrez and Hatem Ben Arfa and striker Demba Ba were all rested for Thursday night's 3-0 Europa League victory over Bordeaux, which saw full-back Danny Simpson return from a hamstring injury.
Goalkeeper Steve Harper will resume after taking over from Rob Elliot against the French side when he suffered a groin injury, with 19-year-old Jak Alnwick providing the back-up from the bench, but number one Tim Krul (elbow), defenders Fabricio Coloccini (hamstring) and Steven Taylor (calf) and utility man Ryan Taylor are still out.
Manchester United will have experienced midfield trio Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Michael Carrick available. Giggs and Carrick missed the Champions League trip to Cluj on Tuesday through illness while Scholes was rested.
Defender Jonny Evans has also recovered from a dead leg and could feature but Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young, Chris Smalling, Nemanja Vidic and Phil Jones are not yet ready to return. |