Emil Krafth has had a rough go of it to start his Newcastle career. He came in for Javier Manquillo at Norwich City in our second match of the season and held his place until Javier Manquillo was brought back against Brighton.
Manquillo did not give a glowing account of himself against the Seagulls, especially in the first half. So Bruce brought Krafth back for the Leicester City trouncing, and that’s been about it for the Swede.
Yedlin was brought back in for Manchester United and has been a demonstrable improvement over the past six matches. However, Yedlin is nursing a hip injury and is now a doubt for Saturday’s game.
Sky Sports’ Keith Downie has tweeted that Emil Krafth is set to come in for the American if he can’t make it.
DeAndre Yedlin a doubt for the visit of Man City tomorrow with a hip injury. Emil Krafth set to deputise #NUFC
— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) November 29, 2019
This was to be expected as Bruce has preferred to keep Krafth in his squad as a substitute while Manquillo hasn’t been in a matchday squad since Leicester City.
This is a nightmarish scenario for Krafth to return for. Manchester City will be primed and ready to grab all three points.
Their manager Pep Guardiola has come out this morning and proclaimed that they can not lose any more games. This is what he said about the match on Saturday:
“I know we can not lose games but I’m not thinking about winning the Premier League right now.
“We have to get close to Leicester first of all and then, after that, Liverpool. The target, when you play every three days, is the next one.”
Manchester City sit third in the table but are nine points behind league leaders Liverpool and one behind the very impressive Leicester City.
One advantage they have over Liverpool is a superior goal difference. They’ll want to secure all three points tomorrow at St James Park and build on that advantage if they can.
Emil Krafth will be tasked with shutting down the Manchester City attackers. He’ll have to try and help keep Raheem Sterling quiet for Newcastle to have any chance of a result. That is a tough proposition for a new signing who hasn’t started in a month.
1 comment so far
Jib
Nov 29, 2019 at 9:38 PM
Comment #1Emil Krafth will do OK
He’s been given time off because of the
arrival of a new daughter.