Eddie Howe given green light for £100m Newcastle United plan at Nottingham Forest

Newcastle United produced probably their two best peformances of the season so far in overcoming Chelsea and Arsenal in successive games in the last fortnight. The small problem for Eddie Howe is that there were some significant changes to the starting XI between both matches.

While the Carabao Cup win over Enzo Maresca's Blues was a chance to rest some key names, it saw the Magpies turn on the style to comfortably defeat a much-changed Chelsea outfit. It was no surprise that Bruno Guimaraes returned to his pitvotal midfield role against Arsenal in the Premier League three days later - but if the pressure was on the Brazilian after Sandro Tonali's performance in that position against Chelsea, then he certainly didn't show it.

Bruno was instrumental in United's 1-0 victory over the Gunners, with Tonali now facing a fight to win his place back in the team, thanks also to two impressive displays from the recalled Sean Longstaff. A new-look left-hand side of the pitch has seen another positive develop for Howe.

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Lewis Hall, Joe Willock and Joelinton have quickly formed a strong link that has given Newcastle a cohesion they perhaps lacked earlier in the season. Joelinton and Willock are no stranger to combining on United's left flank, having done so to great effect in the 2022-23 season, and with Hall's added attacking impetus, it is a formidable trio.

It means that when it comes to weighing up any potential changes for today's game at Nottingham Forest, the United head coach could well decide to stick instead of twist. Indeed that is exactly what fans want him to do, according to our latest team prediction.

We ask you to pick your United XI ahead of each game, and the most popular selection this week sees a grand total of no changes from the side which beat Arsenal. Tonali and Harvey Barnes have to make do with bench roles, as does the returning Jacob Murphy, with Anthony Gordon on the right and Alexander Isak through the middle.

Tino Livramento, Fabian Schar and Dan Burn complete a familiar back four alonngside left-back Hall, with Nick Pope inbetween the posts as always. We'll find out what Howe actually does at 12.45pm today, and you can follow all the action from the City Ground in our live blog right here.

Newcastle United fans XI vs Nottingham Forest: Pope; Livramento, Schar, Burn, Hall; Longstaff, Guimaraes, Willock; Gordon, Joelinton, Isak.