Newcastle United expected starting XI v Brentford - 17 days after historic Carabao Cup win

Newcastle United return to Premier League action for the first time since winning the Carabao Cup, with Brentford the visitors to St James’ Park on Wednesday night.

A fortnight of celebrations on Tyneside was capped off by a huge parade across the city on Saturday. Tens of thousands of supporters lined the streets and Town Moor to get a glimpse of Eddie Howe and his players with the trophy.

While fans will continue to bask in the glory of seeing their club lift its first domestic trophy in 70 years, the challenge for Howe’s side is to maintain the positive feeling for the remaining 10 games of the campaign.

This season will already go down as a historic one for the Magpies, but they make it even more special by securing Champions League qualification. And as it stands, they’re in with a decent shout, sitting just a point outside the top five with a game in hand.

United will have to overcome some patchy home form, losing three of their last five home games all to similar level opposition - AFC Bournemouth, Fulham and Brighton & Hove Albion. Brentford fall into that category and pose an obvious threat, having won their last five away matches.

Howe has named an unchanged starting XI for the last two matches, earning a league win at West Ham before beating Liverpool at Wembley. Will the Newcastle boss keep it the same against the Bees, or rotate? Here’s our prediction.