Newcastle United head to The King Power Stadium on Sunday looking for revenge against The Foxes after being knocked out of The Carabao Cup 4-2 on penalties by Brendan Rodgers' men after an ill-tempered 1-1 at St. James' Park in August.
Leicester midfielder Hamza Choudhury should have been sent off for a disgraceful challenge that put Magpies midfielder Matt Ritchie on the injured list and one United manager Steve Bruce took particular exception to, saying after the game:
"The mess Matt Ritchie's in - it was a horror challenge. When I see the mess on his leg. We fear ankle damage, he's got three stitches in his leg. I don't want players sent off but when it's horror challenges, it isn't good. It's a horror one, it's over the top. Believe me, it's a horrible one."
Insult was added to injury when it emerged a BBC Leicester journalist Owynn Parker-Atkin had Tweeted his enjoyment of the tackle to the anger of Geordie fans before Newcastle forward Allan Saint-Maximin got wind of it and took him down on Twitter. A "remarkable" recovery means Ritchie could be fit far earlier than expected and even in the line-up to face Choudhury on Sunday and ready to exact his revenge yet even if not, Newcastle as a team have the chance to right a few wrongs from the August fixture.
While Rodgers fielded almost a full-strength team, Newcastle were forced to rest half a dozen first-team stars from 'keeper Martin Dubravka to Paul Dummett, Sean Longstaff to Joelinton and now have Andy Carroll and Saint-Maximin himself desperate to play. With a full-strength line-up and the right approach, Newcastle are well-placed to record a third successive victory at high-flying Leicester after a 1-0 win their last season preceded by a 2-1 win the year before thanks to the £30M man who has now switched sides, Ayoze Perez, and this fantastic goal from JonJo Shelvey:
Increasing the intensity of the side was something Bruce promised on his arrival at the club and that is perhaps something Newcastle have lacked in the absence of Ritchie and while nobody can accuse Newcastle of not being committed this season so far, the development of a ruthless and more streetwise streak to their play particularly in front of goal will see them collect greater rewards than the five points from six games so far.
New number nine Joelinton has one goal to show for his efforts so far this season at the home of The Champions League Runners Up yet with more do-or-die finishing could have converted good decent chances against Arsenal, Norwich, Watford and Brighton in his first half a dozen Premier League games yet he is still adapting to English football.
Returning Geordie hero Andy Carroll knows the meaning of scoring goals in a Newcastle shirt and can hopefully instill in his potential Brazilian strike partner a simliar urgency to that which saw Carroll score 31 goals in 80 games in his first spell at his hometown club - as well as fighting and scrapping for every ball.
On Saturday night, Joelinton was complaining to the referee and 4th official on the sidelines after some choice tackes and treatment by Brighton defenders but the best way for the big Brazilian to exact his revenge is to utilize his considerable 6ft 1in frame against defenders and, most importantly, to put the ball into the back of the net.
Newcastle and Bruce's approach to the season has been a little too nice and tentative and its time to raise the intensity, be ruthless and find a cutting edge.
Allan Saint-Maximin can provide the spark - and more - if Newcastle can keep him fit as he battles a hamstring injury. World class dribbling skills with a David Ginola-esque ability to go past people either way on either foot and an explosive burst of pace like Hatem Ben Arfa means Saint-Maximin is both a crowd-pleaser and a thorn in the opposition's side.
Newcastle haven't caused their opponents enough problems in the attacking third but with Saint-Maximin returning, he will an add an extra dimension as he did on Saturday night when he came on against Brighton and instantly swung the game's momentum.
Experienced first team stalwarts like Ritchie, Florian Lejeune and DeAndre Yedlin are still to be added to the side when they are fit as well as starlet Sean Longstaff and Steve Bruce on several occasions has spoken of a big role for returning striker Dwight Gayle.
There is still a strong current of self-belief in the Newcastle squad and the communication and understanding between players and their Head Coach was shown on Saturday when Isaac Hayden came over to tell Bruce the formation wasn't "working".
"I still think our best system for us is three at the back. In the second half, we could have done much better, and we could have won it in the end....I'm glad we changed it. We were much better in the second half. I had to move to midfield, and I felt it worked better then. We managed to switch it straight away, there was no confusion."
Going forward, Bruce and Newcastle will find their best system and team after what has been an experimental seven games in the job yet raising the intensity levels and change of mentality to forcing the issue and managing the game is just as important as Steve Bruce's Black and White Army seek to punch their true weight in The Premier League.
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