Newcastle United PREDICTED XI (And Score) Vs Swansea
Vurnon Anita has trained this week but will he line up against Garry Monk's side this weekend?
Firstly, I owe you an apology. You put your trust in me last week to predict Steve McClaren's first Newcastle United eleven and I failed. I claimed I was Mystic Meg and you guys came along for the ride. I don't blame you, I'd spent the entire summer writing about the Magpies' new boss and convinced myself that I was on the same wavelength as the Eredivisie Man of Courage.
I hold my hands up; Steve is a hard man to read and without criticising his selections (after all, he did get a 2-2 draw with Southampton) let's take a peek at some of the more questionable decisions he made. Don't worry, I'm not going to go all Mike Williamson again as I've been presented with incontrovertible video evidence from last September (where the Saints beat Newcastle 4-0) strongly suggesting that the 31-year-old would not have contained Graziano Pelle's majestic aerial ability any more efficiently than the selected centre-backs.
The decision to play Georginio Wijnaldum in the No 10 role surprised me, as did the decision to start Gabriel Obertan (and not even bring on Ayoze Perez or Rolando Aarons). But both selections worked. When former PSV Eindhoven midfielder Wijnaldum grabbed a heroic debut goal, making a cross-battlefield 60-yard pitch-dash before firing a bullet-header past Maarten Stekelenburg, it was Obertan who had selected the ammunition and cocked the weapon with a killer half-volleyed cross - and the pair were generally impressive throughout the match.
Newcastle's team spirit was clearly strong against Ronald Koeman's organised Southampton side and it would be unwise to disrupt a confident group, but Swansea pose different questions and posses fast wingers (just ask Branislav Ivanovic), ball-playing midfielders and the supremely talented Andre Ayew.
Here at WhatCulture.com/NUFCwe predict the starting eleven for Saturday's fixture, outline their specific duties and give our opinions on the scoreline.