Newcastle United's Sven Botman playing against Benfica.Newcastle United's Sven Botman playing against Benfica.
Newcastle United's Sven Botman playing against Benfica.

Newcastle United line-up to face Benfica: Eddie Howe makes seven changes as trio miss out

Newcastle United face Benfica in Portugal this evening - but how will Eddie Howe’s side line-up?

After ending their pre-season tour of Austria with a 1-0 defeat against Mainz 05, Newcastle jetted back to the North East before quickly heading out to Portugal for another training camp.

Saturday saw The Magpies get the better of two Burnley XIs in a behind closed doors practice session which involved two sets of XIs playing against each other at the same time on different pitches.

But tonight is sure to provide arguably Newcastle’s toughest test of pre-season so far with Champions League quarter-finalists Benfica the hosts and the Eusebio Cup on the line.

Eddie Howe has made seven changes to the side that were beaten 1-0 against Mainz with Martin Dubravka, Paul Dummett and Ryan Fraser all missing out.