Eddie Howe has made 10 changes to his Newcastle United starting XI for tonight’s third-round Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City.
Nick Pope is the only survivor from Sunday’s 8-0 Premier League win at Sheffield United as Howe hands full debuts to summer signings Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall, plus 17-year-old academy graduate Lewis Miley.
Joelinton also makes his return from a knee injury after missing the last three matches against Brentford, AC Milan and the Blades.
Despite the wholesale changes, Howe insisted during his pre-match press conference he is taking the League Cup seriously,
“It’s an important competition for us,” said Howe. “Last year was amazing for us. We started it against Tranmere which was an incredibly difficult game. It seems a long time ago now but you have to go to some tough places in the early rounds.
“We’ve got the ultimate testing coming up so a totally different tie to last year but we will give it every importance and try as hard as we can to progress because we want to try and compete in every competition. We’re certainly not dismissing it than anything other than the important game.”
Livramento and Matt Targett start at full-back with Jamaal Lascelles and Paul Dummett as the centre halves. Hall is expected to start in midfield alongside Sandro Tonali and Miley, while Jacob Murphy, Joelinton and Alexander Isak are the front three.
Here’s the starting XI in full:
1. GK: Nick Pope
2. RB: Tino Livramento
3. CB: Jamaal Lascelles
4. CB: Paul Dummett