Newcastle United will visit Blackburn Rovers in a bid to reach the FA Cup quarterfinals. The visitors will be coming off a 4-1 Premier League loss at Arsenal. Blackburn’s most recent game ended in a 1-1 draw with Norwich City in the lower division.
Preview (Blackburn Rovers vs. Newcastle United)
Blackburn has won the FA Cup six times: in 1884, 1885, 1886, 1890, 1891, and 1928. They have also advanced to the competition’s final two times, in 1882 and 1960. Although Rovers won’t consider this competition a top priority this year. They have scored a lot of goals in the FA Cup 2023–24. They defeating Cambridge United 5-2 in the third round and Wrexham 4-1 in the final. After a 1-1 draw with Norwich in the Championship on Saturday afternoon, John Eustace’s team will go into this game with three straight draws in the second division of English football.
It will be challenging for Blackburn to contend for promotion this season as they are presently 16th in the Championship standings, 16 points outside of the playoff spots. At this crucial time in the campaign, they are only four points outside of the relegation zone. Rovers’ last victory over the Magpies came in a Championship encounter in January 2017. Rovers have lost their last two games against Newcastle, which have been in the League Cup and FA Cup. Newcastle, on the other hand, will go into the game coming off a 4-1 Premier League loss to Arsenal.
Currently ranked eighth in the Premier League, Eddie Howe’s team will find it challenging to contend for Champions League football in the 2024–25 season. They are 10 points behind Tottenham Hotspur in fifth place and 15 points behind Aston Villa in fourth. The next few weeks will be critical as the team secures some form of European football. Winning an FA Cup under the new ownership must be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Newcastle has also won the FA Cup six times before, in 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952, and 1955. Their most recent appearance in the final was in 1999 when they infamously lost to Manchester United.
Team News
Due to injuries, Blackburn will be without Joe Rankin-Costello, John Fleck, and Hayden Carter on Tuesday. Harry Leonard is still questionable because of a knock. Due to the injury that forced him off the pitch in the first fifteen minutes of Saturday’s Championship match against Norwich, Ryan Hedges will also be missing. While Sammie Szmodics and Sam Gallagher ought to stick in the latter part of the pitch. Head coach Eustace may make a few alterations to the starting lineup that faced the Canaries, adding Andrew Moran and Arnor Sigurdsson.
Although there are anticipated to be changes from the team that took to the pitch for the opening whistle against Arsenal on Saturday, Newcastle head coach Howe has selected a solid team in the competition this season, and that is likely to be the case again on Tuesday. Because of the absence of Sandro Tonali, Callum Wilson, Joelinton, Nick Pope, Elliott Anderson, and Matt Targett, as well as the uncertainty surrounding Martin Dubravka’s health, Loris Karius may continue in goal. After the match against Arsenal, Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy, Joe Willock, and Dan Burn might all be added to the team, although players like Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schar, Sven Botman, and Alexander Isak ought to remain.
Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Newcastle United
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