Soccer / marcelo bielsa

Newcastle United head to Elland Road on Saturday for a clash with Leeds United looking for the club's second win of the season at the 23rd attempt in all competitions after last week's disappointing 1-1 draw with Watford: An 88th minute equaliser by Joao Pedro cancelled out Allan Saint-Maximin solo effort in the 49th minute and left The Magpies in the bottom three, two points behind Claudio Ranieri's Hornets, but if they had held on to the win would have been out of the relegation zone now with Watford and Norwich playing on Friday night. Having taken the lead through Saint-Maximin's super goal, Newcastle didn't seem to know whether to go all out for a second killer winning goal or defend their lead and in the end did neither, eventually conceding after The Saint went off in the 86th minute as prior to that, two Watford players were closely marking Newcastle's danger man but once he went off, it freed up a player and they scored from a cross from Maxi's side. Saint-Maximin's importance to the Newcastle side was underlined again in the match and this excellent stats graph showing that the Frenchman - who must be on the brink of receiving an international call-up from the France side - is a Premier League leader in 'Distance and Frequency of Progressive Carries' carrying the NUFC team forward single-handedly. Newcastle desperately need another attacking dribbler in the team to share some of the burden currently carried by Saint-Maximin which is why the club are pushing so hard for Jessie Lingard's signature and its interesting to note that Newcastle's only victory this season against Burnley also featured another, Miguel Almiron, whose lack of first-team action is clearly a frustration as his agent is talking up a transfer. While an $80 million release clause seems fanciful, Almiron can still help in Newcastle's fight against relegation. Whether he'll get the chance at Leeds or not remains to be seen but he does have the speed and athleticism to keep up with and pose a threat to Marcelo Bielsa's men, who looked back to their best in a 3-2 win at West Ham: Winger Jack Harrison scored his first Premier League hat-trick so Kieran Trippier will have to be at his best to prevent a repeat-performance from the in-form winger. Newcastle received an early boost when Bielsa revealed that star striker Patrick Bamford has suffered another injury ruling him out of the match and Adam Forshaw and Junior Firpo have hamstring concers which could rule them out of the match: With a two-week break after the weekend's game, its unlikely either manager will rush players back for Saturday and Eddie Howe revealed that Matt Ritchie has a knee issue and will be assessed while Jeff Hendrick and Dwight Gayle have returned to training: The Ritchie issue is a particularly pertinent one at the moment with many fans clamouring for a return to the side for the Scottish winger in the wing-back role he thrived in at the end of last season's 17-point run that meant Newcastle not just survived but eventually finished 12th and Howe alluded to needing a similar run to ensure Premier League survival this term. Ritchie has struggled as a left-back in a back four but his diagonal balls, crosses and set-piece delivery from the more advanced wing-back role he is comfortable with would bring out the best in Chris Wood's aerial prowess - Wood scored 44 goals in 88 games when at Elland Road in his time there - against a Leeds back four extremely vulnerable in the air already especially from set-pieces where they have conceded nine in the Premier League this season and with more injury-forced reshuffling, could be there for the taking especially at corners and free-kicks from Ritchie & Kieran Trippier: If Ritchie isn't fit then Jamaal Lewis, who was back in the matchday squad last week, will be in contention for selection with Paul Dummett - who started last week - perhaps ready to revert to the left-sided centre-back role in which he excels: As well as man of the moment hat-trick hero Harrison, Leeds' biggest threat this season has been Raphinha, who scored at St James' Park in the 1-1 draw and was even linked with a big money move to Bayern Munich during his free-scoring run before Christmas: Howe spoke of the "unique challenge" posed by Leeds with their relentless athleticism: "They have a way of playing and there's a lot to admire about Leeds' out of possession work. They play with a really high intensity and we have to match that. This is a totally unique game and we have to be ready for what we're going to face." and the temptation to match it with Newcastle's fittest and fastest players like Lewis will surely be in Howe's thoughts but Newcastle might triumph by dictating their own game and pattern of play. Whoever is in the side will have to hit the ground running. Last season, Newcastle took the lead at Elland Road & were in the match before Joelinton was taken off leading to a late collapse and a 5-2 defeat. Leeds were one of the sides who didn't face Newcastle's powerful 5-3-2 line-up in 2020/21 and beat a Magpies side playing a back four twice during the period last season Newcastle were depleted with Covid but Steve Bruce's men earned a draw with five at the back this season & are more than equipped to exact some revenge and seal that second win the club desperately needs to start climbing The Premier League. Newcastle possess the players to beat anybody if they can recover some lost confidence and players like Joe Willock start producing like they did last season & and all Geordies will be hoping they can find that winning formula and positive momentum tomorrow before two crucial games in early February. Prediction - Newcastle 3 Leeds 2 Potential Line-Ups: