The strongest Newcastle United starting XI Eddie Howe can name to face Nottingham Forest. The strongest Newcastle United starting XI Eddie Howe can name to face Nottingham Forest.
The strongest Newcastle United starting XI Eddie Howe can name to face Nottingham Forest.

Newcastle United’s strongest starting XI to face Nottingham Forest as summer signing misses out

Newcastle United’s 2022-23 Premier League campaign gets underway on Saturday with Nottingham Forest first up at St James’ Park.

And the big question is, who will Eddie Howe name in his Magpies starting XI?

Howe has two new signings at his disposal in Nick Pope and Sven Botman. Matt Targett, although joining from Aston Villa, is already a familiar face after his loan spell last season.

Usually by now, you get a feeling for who will start the first game but Howe, via his pre-season team selection, has kept everyone guessing.

“Individually, players certainly staked a claim but it’s not just on those two games, it’s on the whole of pre-season and training I’ve seen as well,” said Howe after the back-to-back friendly wins against Atalanta and Athletic Bilbao.

“There’s a lot of work to form my opinions. It won’t just be based on these two games.”

Here Our writer Jordan Cronin puts his neck on the line and picks the Newcastle United starting XI he believes should start against Forest on Saturday afternoon (kick-off 3pm):